Mages of Fairy Tail: A Fairy Tail Fanfic
by VZoomRocks128
Summary: *New version* Clair is a mage from a strong guild in Fiore called Fairy Tail. As one of the Dragon Slayers in Fairy Tail, things are going to get crazy. Warning: I do not own Fairy Tail and their characters except my OCs. Thank you!
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey, it's VZoomRocks128! This fanfiction is about Fairy Tail! I deleted the old version of this story because I felt that it sucked a lot, so I made a new one. Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

**_*Seven years ago*_**

A pink-haired boy saw a turquoise-haired girl around his age crying on a prairie. His intention was to leave her alone by herself, but he thought that it would be mean to not help her, so he went up to her and asked, "Why are you crying?"

The turquoise-haired girl immediately hugged his waist and sobbed over his shoulder. "She's gone! She left me! She's never coming back!"

"Don't worry, I'm here. You can tell me anything." The pink-haired boy helped her stand up. "I'm Natsu by the way. What's your name?"

The girl wiped away her tears. "C-Clair..."

"Clair..." Natsu grinned. "Let's stick together, okay?"

Clair opened her mouth to say something, but she looked down at her feet nervously. "That will be the best way for us right now. Okay, I'll go with you."

* * *

"What are you doing here by all by yourself?" Natsu asked Clair.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Clair said.

"I'm looking for my foster dad. He's a dragon."

"D-Dragon? You were raised by a dragon?"

"Did I weird you out, Clair? Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay. The truth is...I'm raised by a dragon, too. I'm a Dragon Slayer."

Natsu became surprised. "Really? That's one thing we finally have in common! Um...oh, what Dragon Slayer magic do you use? I use fire."

"Really?" Clair lifted her arm. "I use ice. Isn't fire not compatible with ice? I'm just asking. We can still be friends if you want. After all, opposites do attract."

Natsu nodded. "You're right. Hey, I'm on a quest to look for my dad. If you're looking for your mom...Am I right?"

"You are. Go on."

"Why don't we look for them together?"

Clair looked at him in awe. "Hai! You're the best, Natsu!"

* * *

_***Weeks later***_

Clair sighed, wandering around the forest. "I don't see them. I don't think they're here. Natsu...This is hopeless. Weeks passed by, and they're not here at all!"

Natsu became saddened. "Is that so? Sorry for making you feel this way, Clair."

"It's not your fault." Clair spotted a small shadow a little bit ahead. "I saw something...or someone, I guess? Natsu, let's check it out." She hopped over bushes.

"Oi, Clair! Wait for me!" Natsu chased after her. The view of the shadow became clear. It was a tiny, old man. Clair and Natsu looked at each other. The old man found them.

"You two," he said. "What are you doing out here by yourselves? It's dangerous out here. Go back home. Your parents are probably worried about you."

"Sir, we don't have..." Clair turned around and saw a creature behind her and Natsu. She squealed.

"Clair." Fire formed on Natsu's arm. "You ready or what?"

Ice surrounded Clair's arm. "Yeah. Sorry for that." She and Natsu jumped high.

"Ice Dragon's Frozen / Fire Dragon's Iron...FIST!" They punched the creature square in the face. The creature fell moments later. Clair and Natsu celebrated their victory by exchanging high-fives.

"You kids are mages?" the old man said. "I'm sorry to underestimate you. My name is Makarov Dreyar, the master of a mage guild, Fairy Tail."

"Fairy Tail?" Clair and Natsu exchanged looks.

"You two follow me." Makarov led them out of the forest into a large town.

* * *

"This is Fairy Tail." Makarov introduced Natsu and Clair a colorful building with a flag that shows a peculiar sign.

"Fairy...Tail?" Natsu and Clair sounded out.

"Ne, Jiichan," Natsu said. "Didn't you say that Fairy Tail is a mage guild?"

"Hey, since when did you call the guild master 'Jiichan', Natsu?" Clair murmured in a low voice.

"I did say that Fairy Tail is a mage guild," Makarov said. "I'm very impressed with your magic, so I'll let you two join Fairy Tail."

Natsu and Clair gasped gleefully. "Arigatogozaimasu Jiichan! / Jiisama!" They entered Fairy Tail. "Sugoi~"

Some of the male members of the guild crowded around Clair. "Ohhhhh! It's a girl! Kawaii!"

Clair backed out. "H-Hai?!"

"Guys, don't scare her like that!" An azure-haired girl squeezed her way in through the middle of the crowd, where Clair was. "Sorry about this. My name is Petra. What's yours?"

"C-Clair..." Clair stammered.

"Hold on a sec. Oi, get out of my way!" Petra got Clair out of the crowd. "Hey, the pink-haired boy is your friend, right?"

Clair nodded. Petra went up to Natsu.

"My name is Petra," she introduced. "What's your name?"

"I'm Natsu!" Natsu pointed proudly to himself.

"What magic do you use, Natsu?"

"I use fire!"

An indigo-haired boy spat out water. "This guy is a fire user like me?"

"Kelso, you scared me!" a burgundy-haired boy squealed.

"Sorry, Silas. Hehehehe...You screamed like a girl."

"You want me to suffocate you?"

"It's true," a blonde-haired boy said. "You do scream like a girl, Silas."

"Shut up, Laxus!"

"Did someone say 'fire'?" A black-haired boy surrounded his hands with ice. "I've been waiting for a rivalry! C'mon, fight me!"

"Gray, your clothes..." A brown-haired girl said.

"I know that, Cana!"

"Okay! Let's call this an official rivalry, ice dude!" Natsu's fists were on fire. "I'm all fired up!" He and Gray clashed against each other.

"Natsu...That was fast," Clair frowned. She saw a scarlet-haired girl stopping the fight by pushing Gray and Natsu on each side.

"Erza!" Petra said.

"Her name is Erza?" Clair asked her. "She looks really tough, but she's really pretty. Her hair fits her."

"Erza is really tough. She beat Gray in one punch."

"Really? Whoa..."

"You two, stop it," Erza said, and turned to Natsu. "You're new here, right? What's your name? And what magic do you use?"

"I'm Natsu," Natsu said. "I use fire!"

"Natsu...That means 'summer', right? And you use fire?" Erza smiled. "Your name suits you." She turned to Clair. "Another new person? What's your name, and what magic do you use?"

"I'm Clair," Clair said. "I use ice."

"The cute girl's an ice user?" Silas said. "Let's ship her and Gray!"

"Hey, now..." Kelso said.

When Gray learned that Clair is an ice user, he blushed when he approached her. "Another ice user? I never knew an ice user like you could be this cute..."

Clair started shaking. "H-Hai?!"

"Hey, don't scare her like that!" Petra scolded Gray. "I'll show you and Natsu around, okay?"

* * *

After Petra showed Clair and Natsu around the Fairy Tail building, she headed to see Makarov. "Master, where did you find them?"

"I found them in the forest," Makarov said. "I heard that they were raised by dragons."

"Dragons?"

"They taught them their respective magic to humans. Those humans are called Dragon Slayers."

"Those two are Dragon Slayers? What? They're so young..."

"I thought that it be unbelievable, but they impressed me, those kids..." Makarov was silent for a while. "Do you have something to do, Petra?"

"Whoops! I have to do a job with Erza! Thanks for reminding me, Master!" Petra joined up with Erza and exited the guild. Unknown to him, Silas was eavesdropping the whole time beside a wall with Kelso and Laxus.

"This is interesting," Silas commented.

"Those two newbies are Dragon Slayers," Laxus said. "The boy is no problem. But the girl...She needs to grow up."

"What are you going to do, Laxus?" Kelso demanded. "You can't kill her!"

"I won't." Laxus held out an item that was covered with a brown cloth. "I'll give this instead."

* * *

_***The next day***_

Silas, Kelso, and Laxus found Natsu and Clair outside. They heard Natsu say to Clair, "We never had a chance to fight each other before. So today, I'll challenge you on a duel."

"Hm, why is that?" Clair asked.

"To see who's stronger."

"Are you serious?"

"I hope this works," Laxus said.

Natsu ignited his fists. "All right! I'm all fired up." He launched at Clair. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" A huge dust cloud covered the battle scene. Kelso saw Clair shielding herself with ice.

"Her ice shield didn't melt?" he gasped. "Guys, it didn't melt!"

"Huh?" Silas and Laxus widened their eyes when Clair remained uninjured.

"My turn!" Clair dug her frozen fists on the ground. "Ice Pillars!" Large ice pillars came out of the ground and trapped Natsu. Natsu didn't move after that.

"I give up!" he declared. "Fine! You're definitely stronger than I am."

"You didn't try really hard, Natsu," Clair said.

Natsu threw his arms up in the air. "Whatever! You're still stronger than me!" He gave her a thumbs-up. "Clair, I'll be you someday. Don't forget that, okay?"

Clair smirked. "It's a deal." She and Natsu shook hands. Silas, Kelso, and Laxus left before they noticed them.

* * *

**A/N: Hm, interesting...Minna, what do you think Laxus gave Clair? ****The answer will be revealed when the story reaches the Grand Magic Games Arc!**


	2. I Salamander

_***Seven years later***_

Clair, Natsu, and Happy arrived in Hargeon to find "Salamander", the one that Natsu claimed as his foster dad, Igneel. Natsu's motion sickness showed up, even after the train ride.

"Ugh," Clair groaned. "Why do I have to come with you guys? This is such a waste of time."

"Natsu! We've arrived at Hargeon!" Happy announced. "Get up! Get up!"

"I-Is he alright?" a station staff member asked.

"Aye! This happens all the time."

Clair sighed. "He has motion sickness. I don't why he keeps using transportation if he doesn't want to." She lowered herself. "Natsu, get yourself up and start moving! I'm getting impatient."

"It is hopeless," Natsu said. "I will never ride a train ever again..." His cheeks puffed up.

"Be strong, Natsu! Don't throw up!"

"If the information is correct, Salamander should be in this town," Happy said. "Let's go."

Natsu was sticking out of a window. "L-Let me rest for a little bit..."

Clair dragged him along the streets of Hargeon. "Come on, Natsu. If you want to see your foster dad so badly, don't waste our time. We don't have all day."

"O-Okay..."

* * *

Clair and Happy got off from the train. They didn't notice Natsu was missing until the train started again.

"Save me!" Natsu yelled to them as the train went far away. Clair trembled, dropping her jaw.

"It departed," Happy said.

"Happy, aren't you gonna do something?" Clair said angrily. "You know...Save Natsu from the train!"

"Fine." Happy's wings sprouted from his back and picked up Clair with his tail. "This is going to take a while."

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Clair and Happy finally got Natsu out of the train.

"Damn it! I ended up riding the train twice," Natsu said.

"Natsu, you have motion sickness, right?" Happy said. "Clair, I always wondered why you don't have motion sickness, even though you're a Dragon Slayer..."

"I'm immune to it," Clair said. "You finally got your answer."

"I am very hungry, too..." Natsu said.

"We don't have any money," Happy told him. "It's all Clair's fault."

"What do you mean it's my fault?!" Clair yelled at him.

"You lost to Kelso on the last round of arm wrestling. Since you lost, you have to give him all your money."

"It was a stupid bet."

"Ne, Happy..." Natsu said. "The _Salamander_ we are looking for is Igneel, right?"

"Yeah," Happy said. "Only Igneel can be called the Fire Dragon, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess." Ahead of them was a crowd full of squealing females.

"Salamander-sama!"

"You're so handsome!"

"Burn me!"

Natsu and Happy looked at each other. "Salamander?!" They headed to the crowd without Clair.

"Chotto! Natsu, Happy!" Clair didn't try to follow them. "Ugh, stupid Krov. You told Natsu about the stupid rumor you heard. Igneel can't be in town. Dragons can't be in towns."

* * *

_***Flashback***_

Clair's arm landed on its side on the table by Kelso. The guild members that were watching cheered for Kelso's victory on the last round of arm wrestling.

"Damn it, Kelso!" Clair pounded her fist on the table. "You made me lose all of my money."

"Too bad, it's a bet, and you agreed," Kelso said. "Pay up."

"Fucking hate you." Clair gave him a sack filled with all of her money. "Here, Kelso. Happy?"

"Yep. Thanks for the money."

"Hey, Natsu," Krov said as Natsu passes by him. "I heard a rumor that the Salamander is in Hargeon. You should check it out."

"Igneel?" Natsu and Happy became excited. Clair slapped her forehead.

"Hey, Clair! Come with us!" Natsu pulled Clair's arm. "Igneel might be there! Plus, you might see Azuron, too! We'll be partying if we find them! Come on!"

"Natsu, can't you see?" Clair drank her water. "This is a rumor you're excited about for no reason. Dragons don't exist anymore. They can't be in towns. They can't be everywhere."

"Fine! Suit yourself." Natsu turned away. "Unless you want to fight so we can settle this."

"What? Another fight? No matter how many times you ask me, Natsu, you'll be punched once and you're dead. You get any of that? 'Cause I'm not saying it again."

"Just come with us, please!"

Clair exhaled deeply. "Ugh, all right." She, Natsu, and Happy stepped out of the guild to look for the Salamander, claimed to be as the Fire Dragon, Igneel, by Natsu.

_***Flashback ends***_

* * *

Clair decided to follow Natsu and Happy. "Natsu! Happy!" She saw them enter the crowd, which was surrounding a blue-haired man wearing two rings on his right hand and three metal rings around his right wrist.

"Igneel!" Natsu said. Everyone turned silent for a while. Clair slapped her forehead.

"Who are you?" Natsu asked. That made the blue-haired man shocked.

"What if I say I'm Salamander?" the man asked. Natsu and Happy were already out of the crowd. "Damn fast!" Some of girls from the crowd fought Natsu.

"Hey, you are being rude!" one girl said.

"That's right! Salamander-sama is an excellent mage!" a second girl said.

"Apologize to him!" a third girl said.

Natsu gave up. "What's with you?!"

"Ne, Natsu...You want me to handle them?" Clair offered._  
_

"Please!"

Clair took a deep breath. "Hey, you girls! Salamander-sama is mine!"

The girls became enraged. "No, he's ours!" They reached for her, but Clair knocked them out by a single kick. She piled all of the unconscious girls next to her.

"You're welcome, Natsu." Clair gave Natsu a thumbs-up, and helped Natsu up. The Salamander wrote his signature on a white board and gave it to Natsu.

"Here's my signature," he said. "You can show off to your friends."

"I don't want it," Natsu said. The girls from the crowd threw Natsu on trash.

"I think we were wrong," Happy said.

"Oi, girlie!" one of the girls yelled at Clair. "You can't have Salamander-sama by yourself! You'll have to get through us first if you want him!"

Clair laughed. "Okay." She used a single kick to knock some of the girls out again. "So easy."

"Well then, I have some errands to run at the port, so if you'll excuse me," the Salamander announced.

"What? Leaving already?!" the girls said.

"Red Carpet." Pink flames surrounded his feet and turned into a spiral. "I am having a party on my ship tonight. Everyone is invited." He disappeared to the sky.

"Party?" Clair said.

"Who is that guy?" Natsu said.

"He is really disgusting, right?" A blonde-haired girl raised a hand. "Thank you."

"Huh?"

* * *

"I am Lucy," the blonde-haired girl said. "Nice to meet you." She had invited Natsu, Happy, and Clair to a restaurant.

"Aye!" Happy and Natsu ate sloppily. Clair laughed nervously and ate normally.

"Natsu, Happy, and Clair, right?"

"You're a nice person," Natsu said with his mouth full.

"Okay, but please take your time...I mean, you're throwing the food around..."

"Don't worry, this is normal," Clair said. "You'll get used to it." Some of the sauce from Natsu's plate splatted on her face. "Hey, Natsu! Your sauce is on my face!"

"Well, that Salamander guy was using Charm, in other words a fascination spell. It influences the heart by attracting one to the caster, but it was banned several years ago. Going to such extents to become popular. What a disgusting guy! But thanks to you jumping in, the Charm was lifted, so this is my way of thanking you."

"I see." Natsu threw tomatoes inside his mouth.

"Natsu...Manners." Clair slurped her noodles.

"I may not look like one, but I'm actually a mage!" Lucy told them. "I haven't joined a guild yet, though. Ah, a guild is an organization where mages are employed and receive information. Mages won't be considered full-fledged until they work for a guild. But...But...! There are many guilds all over the world! And I heard that it's really difficult to get into the popular ones! The one I want to join has lots of wonderful mages in it...Ah, what should I do? I want to join it, but it's really difficult...!"

"Huh?" Natsu and Clair were confused.

"Ah, gomen ne." Lucy flapped her hand. "You can't comprehend stories about the world of magic, right? But I'll join that guild, no matter what. I heard that you get lots of big assignments there."

"R-Really?" Natsu said with his mouth full while Clair did not.

"You sure talk a lot," Happy added.

"Ah, by the way, you guys seemed to be looking for someone..." Lucy said.

"Aye! Igneel!"

Natsu bit a piece from his pizza. "We heard that Salamander was in this town, so we decided to check it out, but he turned out to be a different person."

"I had to come along..." Clair drank half of her water.

"Salamander was his name, but he didn't look like one," Happy said.

"Since I heard he was the Fire Dragon, I was sure it was Igneel," Natsu said with his mouth full.

"It's just a stupid rumor..." Clair sighed.

"And what does the Fire Dragon look like, as a human?" Lucy asked.

"Huh?" Natsu, Happy, and Clair said.

"He's not a human," Natsu said. "Igneel is a real dragon."

"Aye! A real one!" Happy added.

"It's kinda unbelievable," Clair said.

"There is no way such a thing would be in the middle of a town, right?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"That's what I told these guys! Finally, someone who is on the same page as me!"

Natsu and Happy made weird faces at Lucy and Clair.

"You're doing it again!" Clair scolded them.

"Hey! Don't make a face like you just realized that!" Lucy said. She left some money on the table. "Well, then...I should get going now, please take your time."

Natsu and Happy bowed to Lucy. Clair's jaw dropped.

"Thanks for the food!" Natsu shouted.

"Thanks!" Happy said.

"Stop it! It is very embarrassing!" Lucy and Clair yelled at them.

"It is okay..." Lucy said. "You saved me, so we are even now, okay?"

"We didn't mean to save you or something..." Natsu said.

"Aye, that's not fair," Happy said.

"What?!" Clair exclaimed.

Natsu got an idea. "Ah, I got it!" He pulled out a signature from the Salamander. "You can have this."

"I don't want that!" Lucy shouted. "Oh, Clair." She gave Clair some of her money. "Since you guys don't have money, I gave you some if you need it, okay?"

Natsu and Happy crowded over Lucy's money. "Thanks again, Lucy!"

* * *

"What should we do now?" Clair asked Natsu and Happy as she exited the restaurant with them. "Since the Salamander you were looking is not here...This is a waste of time. Let's go home."

"Mate, Clair!" Natsu put his hand on her shoulder.

"What is it?"

"You know about the party that the Salamander guy announced, right?" Happy recalled. He and Natsu snickered.

"What are you planning?"

"I'm very suspicious of that guy," Natsu said. "And his party is tonight, so..." He winked at Clair. "My idea is to send you to that guy's party to spy on him."

Clair clenched her fists. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Come on, Clair. This should be easy." Natsu puts his hands together. "Please?"

Happy did the same thing. "Please?"

Clair took a deep breath. "Fine. I need to buy a dress..." She took out the money that Lucy gave her.

* * *

Clair was wearing a blue cocktail dress at the Salamander's party. She tapped her glass stressfully.

"Clair, is that you?" It was Lucy. "It's good to see you again. What are you doing here? Where are Natsu and Happy?"

Clair frowned. "They ditched me."

"I see."

"Oh, there you are." The Salamander approached them. "Let's go inside. Your friend can come if you want." He went inside the ship.

"Ne, Clair. Wanna come?" Lucy asked.

Clair shrugged. "Sure, why not?" _The plan's working, Natsu._ She and Lucy followed the Salamander inside a private room of the ship.

"Lucy-chwan and Clair-chwan, were they?" the Salamander said. "They're beautiful names."

"Thanks..." Lucy and Clair said.

"Let's have a toast first." The Salamander snapped his fingers. Their drinks started floating in the air. "Well, please open your mouth. The berry gems will enter slowly..."

_He can use telekinesis? _Clair thought. _He put something in our drinks...__It's..._

Lucy smacked the liquid away from her mouth. "What is the meaning of this? That's a tranquilizing spell. It's Sleep, right?"

"I knew from the start since I saw it on your finger," Clair said.

The Salamander smirked. "Congratulation realizing it."

"Don't get the wrong idea," Lucy said. "I want to join Fairy Tail, but I don't have any intention of staying with you."

"Me too," Clair agreed. _Lucy wants to join Fairy Tail? Why is she asking this guy?_

The Salamander laughed. "What troublesome girls."

The curtains revealed men holding on sleeping girls. Clair knew what they're doing.

"What is this?" Lucy said.

"Welcome to my ship," the Salamander said. "I want you two to be obedient until we arrive at Bosco, little girls!"

"B-Bosco?" Clair stammered.

"Bosco? Hey, what about Fairy Tail?!" Lucy demanded.

"Give it up already. You're on our property now," the Salamander told her.

"That's..." Lucy turned to the sleeping girls. "Then, those girls, too..."

"Lucy, I'll handle this," Clair said.

"Clair..."

"That's our Salamander-san!" one guy said.

"We got a big catch this time!" a second guy said.

"Why, you..." Lucy took out her keys. The Salamander smacked it out of her hands with his magic.

"Lucy!" Clair shouted. _She's..._

"Gate Keys?" the Salamander said. "A Celestial Spirit mage, huh? That magic can only be used by Contractors. So I don't need them." He tossed Lucy's keys out of the window.

"No!" Clair clenched her teeth. "You little...!"

The Salamander's cronies grabbed her arms. "Shut up, kid. Just be good, just like Salamander-san ordered you to."

"Like hell I will!" Clair's arms turned freezing cold. The Salamander's cronies' hands frosted.

"COLD!" they exclaimed. Lucy started crying.

"You are the worst mage!" she said tearfully.

Suddenly, something crashed inside the ship. The dust cleared, and it turned out to be Natsu.

"Natsu!" Lucy and Clair said.

"Lucy, remember when you asked me what happened to Natsu and Happy?" Clair said.

"You lied to me?"

"Natsu sent me here so I can spy on the Salamander. Your information got leaked, Salamander."

"Shit! This girl..." the Salamander cursed under his breath.

The ship creaked. Natsu's cheeks puffed up.

"It's hopeless! I can't hold it!" Natsu said.

"You suck!" Lucy and Clair said.

"Lucy, what are you doing?" It was Happy.

"Happy!" Lucy said. "He fooled me by saying he would help me join Fairy Tail. By the way, did you have wings before?"

"I will tell you the details later!" Happy picked up Lucy with his tail. "Here we go!" After Happy flew out of the ship with Lucy, the Salamander's cronies grabbed Clair's arms.

"Let me go!" Clair shook violently.

"After her!" the Salamander commanded. "It'll be a problem if she informs the council! I won't let you run away! Prominence Whip!" He aimed his spell at Happy and Lucy, but Happy dodged them, guiding Lucy to safety . "That damn nimble neko!"

"Oi..." Natsu panted. "Let her go."

"Natsu!" Clair gasped. Natsu's cheeks puffed up again.

"I can't hold it!"

"You're useless..."

The Salamander sighed. "Step on him."

Some of the Salamander's cronies stepped on Natsu.

"We have no choice. We must hurry to Bosco first."

"I won't let you," Clair hissed.

"What makes you say that, you stubborn girl? You seem to be a powerless magic user."

"Don't you dare insult me."

"Why not?"

Natsu blocked a foot with his arm. "Fairy...Tail..."

"Huh?"

"You?!" Natsu, Clair, the Salamander, and the Salamander's cronies witnessed a huge wave coming.

"Motherfu..." Clair didn't get a chance to finish her sentence because the wave swept the ship and everyone away. All of them were plunged into the sandy port.

"Ow..." Clair got her face out of the sand. "I can't move..."

"Clair!" Lucy quickly wrapped Clair's arm around her shoulders. "You okay? Can you move?"

"I think I can. Arigato." She, Lucy, and Happy found Natsu on the top of the Salamander's broken ship.

"Natsu!" Lucy and Clair yelled. Natsu took off his jacket. Some of the Salamander's cronies ran to him to get rid of him.

"The rest of you get the girl!" the Salamander commanded. The rest of the Salamander's cronies aimed at Clair, but none of their attacks hit her accurately. Clair rolled up her sleeves.

"You messed with the wrong girl." She launched at them.

"Natsu! Clair!" Lucy gasped.

"Don't worry," Happy said. "I failed to mention it, but Natsu and Clair are mages as well."

Lucy became surprised. Clair elbowed her opponents Natsu smacked them.

"I am Clair from Fairy Tail!" she hollered.

"I am Natsu from Fairy Tail!" he announced. "And we haven't seen you before!"

"Fairy Tail?!" Lucy said. "Natsu and Clair are mages from Fairy Tail?"

"That crest..." An eye-patched mage pointed at Natsu and Clair. "They are real things, Bora-san!"

"Baka! Don't call me by that name!" the Salamander scolded him.

"Bora of Prominence..." Clair said. "That's him, all right. The former guild member of Titan Nose."

"Clair, standby," Natsu said. "Leave this bastard to me."

"Gotcha."

Natsu advanced to Bora and his cronies. "I don't care if you are a villain or a good person, but I can't forgive anyone who pretends to be from Fairy Tail!"

Bora released Prominence Typhoon at Natsu, but Natsu swallowed the flames. Natsu used Fire Dragon's Breath, which only defeated Bora's cronies. After a long fight, Natsu sent Bora flying to a bell.

"Ta-da!" Clair said.

"Natsu, you've should've used smoke instead of flames if you wanted to smoke him..." Happy said.

"Sugoi...It's amazing, but...he is overdoing it!" Lucy said.

"Aye!"

"Don't just say 'Aye'!"

Then the military showed up.

"Military?!" Lucy was yanked by Natsu.

"Crap, let's run!" Natsu said.

"This is your fault, Natsu!" Clair caught up with him.

"Shut up!"

"Why me, too?!"

"Because you wanted to join our guild, right?!"

"You said so yourself, Lucy." Clair mimicked Lucy's actions in the restaurant.

"Don't mimic me like that, Clair!"

Natsu smiled. "Come with us."

Lucy did the same. "Okay!"

"Don't be like this right now, guys!" Clair panted. She took off her shirt, revealing a sleeveless shirt under, and put it on her head. "We're being chased by armored dudes with spears and shields!"


	3. II Mt Hakobe

Clair fainted. "Finally...made it...home..." She wiped sweat with her shirt.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail," Happy said.

Lucy was excited.

"Clair, open the door."

Clair's body was smoking. "Can't you see what I'm doing?"

"Clair, your body is smoking!" Lucy exclaimed. "Where's my fan?" She took out her fan and waved it up and down, and helped Clair get up. "Are you okay?"

"Thanks for helping me stand again." Clair glared at Happy. "You open the door."

"Natsu, open the door," Happy said.

"All right!" Natsu kicked the door open. "I am home!"

"I am home!" Happy copied his line.

"I am home!" Clair copied his line. While everyone in the guild welcomed Natsu, Happy, and Clair back, Lucy entered Fairy Tail, amazed of what she sees.

"You did something reckless again," Krov said. "I heard about Hargeon-"

Natsu immediately kicked him on the face. "Teme!"

"Damn, that was fast!" Clair exclaimed, putting both of her arms up. "What the hell, Natsu? You want to start another brawl? Not again! Not again!"

Natsu was ticked off. "That information you gave me about Salamander was fake!"

"How could I've known?!" Krov said. "I just told you the rumors I'd heard, that's all! You should have listened to your friend, Clair, in the first place!"

"What did you say?!"

"Do you wanna fight?!" Krov and Natsu started to brawl, and then everyone joined in. They stopped until a black figure's foot stepped in.

"Will you cut it out already, you fools?!" the black figure boomed.

Everyone froze and silenced themselves.

"Ah, so you were here, Master?" Mirajane asked.

"Yeah," the black figure said.

"Master?!" Lucy flinched.

Clair leaned closer. "I know. It's unbelievable."

Natsu laughed hysterically. "Minna got scared! This is fight is my victo-" His speech was interrupted by being stomped by the black figure. Lucy and Clair squealed. The black figure noticed Lucy.

"A newcomer, huh?" he said.

"H-Hai!" Lucy said without hesitating. She saw the black figure revert into a tiny, old man. The man extended his hand to Lucy.

"Nice to meet you," he said.

"He shrank! That aside, she called you 'Master'..."

"Yes, he is Fairy Tail's Master, Makarov-san," Mirajane said. Makarov jumped to the second floor and got hit by the ledge, but he stood up just fine. He cleared his throat.

"He's gonna say something bad," Clair whispered.

"What do you mean by that?!" Lucy gasped.

"You did it again, jerks!" Makarov showed his guild members a stack of papers. "Look at these documents I received from the Council! They are all complaints! All you jerks do is to make the Council angry at me!" He was about to burst. "However..." He burned the documents. "The Council is just a piece of shit!" He threw the flame aside and Natsu fetched it. "Listen up! The power to overcome reason, is born from reason itself. Magic is not a miraculous power. It's the synchronized and incarnated form of Spirit Energy particles that flow within us and in nature. It requires willpower and concentration. I mean, pouring all of your soul into whatever you do is Magic. Worrying about the watchful eyes of the higher-ups, won't improve your magic. Don't be afraid of those Council fools! Follow the path you believe in! That is what Fairy Tail mages are all about!" He and his guild members did their special "L" sign.

* * *

After Lucy got her Fairy Tail insignia on her right hand, she showed it happily to Natsu and Clair, who were looking at the Request Board, with their backs on her. "Natsu, Clair, look at this! I got Fairy Tail's mark!"

"Nice job, Lucy!" Clair turned around and gave her a high-five.

"Yay!"

"Ah, really?" Natsu said. "Good for you, Luigi."

"It's Lucy!"

"Let's choose with a high reward," Happy told Natsu and Clair. Natsu picked up a request.

"160,000 jewels for exterminating thieves!" he exclaimed. "This is awesome! We need money to buy more stuff! And Clair needs more money 'cause she's desperate!"

"Yeah..." Clair sighed.

"That's settled then!" Happy declared.

"Isn't Tochan back yet?" a small boy asked Makarov, who stopped drinking.

"You are annoying, Romeo," Makarov said. "You are a mage's son, so wait quietly at home and believe in your dad."

"But he said he would be back within 3 days...It's been a week already since he left!"

"If I am not wrong, it was a job at Mt. Hakobe."

"It is not so far away! Please go look for him!"

"Your dad is a mage, right?! There's no mage in this guild, who can't take care of himself! Go home and drink your milk or something!"

Romeo punched Makarov on the face. "Baka!" He ran outside. "Kuso!" After that, Natsu punched the request that he picked out and angrily walked away.

"Oi!" Nab said. "Natsu, don't break it!"

"Natsu..." Clair whispered. She looked around the guild. "Hey, Nab. Have you seen Kelso lately?"

"He told me that he's going on a job. But the truth is, he's at Mt. Hakobe looking for Macao. That boy is hurting his pride, like Natsu...Geez, they're the same."

Clair clenched her fists. "That idiot."

* * *

The next day, Lucy and Clair joined Natsu and Happy on their journey to Mt. Hakobe to save Romeo's dad and Kelso. Natsu caught motion sickness again.

"Why are you two here?" he asked.

"Why not?" Lucy said. "Besides, you really can't deal with transportation vehicles, right? I pity you in so many ways..."

Clair crossed her arms. "Geez, Natsu...You're acting really pathetic."

"What do you mean with that?" Natsu demanded.

"No, nothing," Lucy and Clair said.

* * *

_***Flashback***_

After learning about Natsu's history, Lucy turned to Clair. She decided to ask Mirajane, "What about Clair? She uses magic, does she?"

"Of course she does. It's just that she relies on her combat skills," Mirajane said. "She is a telekinetic mage."

"Telekinetic? Oh, that's why attacks miss her."

"She's not just a telekinetic mage; she is also a Dragon Slayer like Natsu. She uses ice."

"Eh?! Another Dragon Slayer?" Lucy glanced at Clair again. "But if she uses ice and Natsu uses fire...Doesn't Natsu always win against her?"

"Don't underestimate Clair by her element disadvantage, Lucy. She beat Natsu with one punch a lot of times."

Lucy bumped her head on the counter. "Thanks for telling me..." She and Mirajane saw Natsu walk in.

"Before I go..." Natsu began. "Clair! Fight me!"

"Hey, didn't you just punch the Request Board and storm off?" Nab said. "Anyways, Natsu, there is no way you will beat Clair in a single punch."

"Some things happen! Come on, Clair!"

Clair set her drink on the counter. "All right, Natsu. You'll get what you want. Let's fight."

"All right! I'm all fired up!" Natsu's fist ignited. "Fire Dragon's Iron-"

Clair whacked him out right away with her icy arm. Lucy fainted.

"See, Natsu?" Nab said. "Those that just happened didn't change at all."

_***Flashback ends***_

* * *

Suddenly, the carriage stopped.

"We've arrived?" Lucy said.

Natsu breathed out fire. "It stopped!" He and Happy did their dance.

"I am sorry, we can't go any further," the driver informed them.

Clair sank on her knees. "NO!"

Lucy opened the back of the carriage. There was a heavy snowstorm outside. Happy was flowing, but clutched on the left side of the door. Clair was playing in the snow.

"W-What is going on?!" Lucy said. "What is this?!"

* * *

"It is freezing!" Lucy complained as she, Natsu, Happy, and Clair climbed up Mt. Hakobe. "Even though this is a mountain, it's summer time! A blizzard like this is just weird!"

"That's 'cause you're light dressed," Natsu and Clair told her.

"Aren't you two light dressed as well?" Lucy tried pulling Natsu's blanket from his back. "Lend me this blanket!"

"You sure talk a lot," Clair said.

"What a noisy girl," Natsu said.

"Aye!" Happy agreed.

Lucy came up with an idea. "I got it! Open up! Gate of the Clock! Horologium!" A tall grandfather clock appeared.

"Clock~" Horologium said.

"It's a clock," Clair said simply.

"Wow, it's a clock!" Natsu said.

"So cool!" Happy said.

Lucy was inside Horologium right now, covering herself with Natsu's blanket. She was complaining, but nothing came out.

"Huh? I can't hear you," Natsu said.

"She says, 'I will stay here.'," Horologium said.

"Ooh, it's a clock that says what Lucy is saying!" Clair exclaimed. "Sweet!"

"Then why did you come with us?" Natsu asked.

"She asks, 'What kind of job was Macao-san doing, in a place like this?'," Horologium said.

"Did you come with us without knowing that? He was gonna destroy the atrocious monster, Vulcan."

"She says, 'I wanna go back.'"

"I say, 'Okay, head back then.'"

"Aye!" Happy said.

Clair slapped her forehead. "Geez..."

* * *

"Macao!" Natsu yelled. "Are you here?!"

"Macao!" Happy yelled.

"Macao!" Clair hollered. "We're gonna save you, got that?"

A huge monkey came from a cliff attacked them.

"That's a Vulcan!" Happy said.

The Vulcan smelled the air and headed to another direction.

"Oi, you!" Natsu shouted. The Vulcan picked up Horologium, who had Lucy contained inside him.

"This is a human woman!" it said. Clair became offended.

"He's saying that I'm not a woman..." she mumbled.

Natsu put his fist on his palm, which let out flames. "You can talk, huh?"

The Vulcan carried Horologium with Lucy inside away. "She says, 'Who cares? Please save me!'" Horologium said. Clair screamed.

"Natsu! Why the hell did you let the Vulcan escape with Lucy?" She shook Natsu by the shoulders. "Answer me, damn it!"

"You're making me dizzy..." Natsu said groggily.

"That's not the answer I'm expecting!"

An arm popped up from the snow. Natsu and Clair yelped and hugged each other.

"Hello? Natsu? Happy? Clair?" The arm waved side-to-side. "I'm stuck! I can't move from here! Dig the snow out from me!"

"Is this...?" Clair vacuumed up the snow. It revealed a familiar indigo-haired boy. He shook off some snow from his head.

"It's Kelso!" Happy said.

"Kelso?" Natsu said. "What are you doing here? Are you supposed to do a job or something?"

"I told Nab to tell Romeo that I'm doing a job," Kelso said. "The truth is, I'm looking for..."

"Nab told me everything," Clair interrupted. "I hoped I'll find you here, you greedy bastard."

"What? You never told me that Kelso is here?!" Natsu said.

"Psh, shut up, Clair." Kelso grabbed Clair's hand and stood up. "I heard that the Vulcan took someone. Was that someone a newcomer?"

"Yeah. Her name is Lucy," Clair said. "We have to hurry, but where did that perverted monkey go?"

"I know where he is," Kelso said. "He's near at the top of Mt. Hakobe. C'mon, I'll lead you there."

* * *

"I see the light!" Natsu zoomed to the opening. Clair and Kelso slapped their foreheads in annoyance.

"Does he ever learn?" Kelso asked. Clair shook her head.

"No offense, he's a frigging idiot," she said. "Sometimes. Anyways, let's follow Natsu." When she and Kelso reached towards the light, the perverted Vulcan and Lucy were there, but Natsu was nowhere to be found. Clair groaned, lowering her head.

"Did Natsu...?" Kelso said.

"Yep, he fell from here," Clair said. "Baka."

Lucy noticed Clair and Kelso. "Clair! And...I never seen you before. I'm Lucy. Help me from that perverted monkey!"

"I'm Kelso. And yeah, I'm gonna help you outta here." Kelso raised an eyebrow when the Vulcan was chanting "Woman!" repeatedly. "But we have to get rid of this perverted monkey first."

Lucy took off Natsu's blanket. "Damn perverted monkey! I will teach you a lesson! Open up! Gate of the Bull! Taurus!" A muscular cow with an ax on his back.

"A cow?" the Vulcan said.

"Is that supposed to be a bull?" Kelso whispered to Clair.

"Taurus is the most powerful Spirit I've contacted with!" Lucy declared.

Taurus's eyes turned into hearts when he looked at Lucy's body. "Lucy-san, you have a nice body, as usual...You're really beautiful!"

"ANOTHER PERVERT?!" Clair and Kelso screamed.

"He's a pervert as well..." Lucy admitted.

"Don't steal my woman!" the Vulcan said.

"'My woman'?" Taurus said. "That's an unforgivable remark!"

"Taurus!"

Taurus split the ground to hit the Vulcan, but the Vulcan dodged his attack. The battle between them ended when Natsu kicked Taurus without knowing that he is Lucy's spirit.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed. Taurus landed on his head. His ax struck on the ice. His soul came out.

"Looks like I'm out..." he said.

"Too weak!"

"Oi, did the number of monsters increase?" Natsu asked. Clair and Kelso slapped their foreheads.

"He is our ally!" Lucy said. "A Spirit!"

"The monkey?"

"The cow! But, how did you survive?"

"You fell from a great height, Natsu," Kelso told Natsu.

"It's all thanks to Happy," he said. "Arigato."

"Aye." Happy was floating in the air. Clair sighed in relief.

"It's a good thing Happy's here to get Natsu up on his feet," she said.

"You can't deal with transportation vehicles, but you are okay with Happy?" Lucy asked.

"There he goes..." Clair muttered.

Natsu made a weird look at Lucy. "What are you talking about? Happy isn't a transportation vehicle. He is our friend, right? Stay back..."

"T-That's right," Lucy stammered. "Gomen nasai."

The Vulcan was on his way to smash Natsu. "She is my woman!"

"Natsu!" Clair and Kelso gasped. Natsu blocked the Vulcan's attack with his arm.

"Listen up!" he announced. "All Fairy Tail members are my friends!" He kicked the Vulcan. "Jiichan, Mira, those annoying guys Gray and Elfman, Happy, Clair, Kelso, and Lucy...all of them are my friends." A magic circle appeared beneath him. "That's why...I'm taking Macao back home!"

Kelso smiled slightly. "You Flame-Brain...You're destructive all the way like Clair, but you're determined. I like that about you, Natsu. That's why we're friends. So, win this for me!"

And Natsu did. He used Fire Dragon's Iron Fist as his finishing blow at the Vulcan. The Vulcan was defeated. Clair and Kelso did repeated high-fives in a slow motion.

"He did it!" Happy said.

Lucy whined. "Weren't you gonna ask that monkey where Macao-san is?"

"Ah, I forgot," Natsu said.

"NATSU!" Clair and Kelso yelled at him.

"He's completely knocked out," Lucy observed. She reacted when the Vulcan started glowing. A yellow magic circle became smaller and a bright light exploded in front of them.

"W-What's going on?!" Natsu said. He realized something. "Macao?!"

"What the hell's going on here?!" Clair complained.

"It's him..." Kelso fought back tears. "Macao!"

"This guy?!"" Lucy said. "He was a perverted monkey just now!"

"He must've been exposed to Vulcan's 'Take Over'," Happy said.

"'Take Over'?"

"It is a spell to possess someone's body. Vulcans capture humans and take over their bodies in order to live. It seems that he fought fiercely before he was exposed to 'Take Over'."

"Macao!" Natsu said. "Don't die! Romeo is waiting for you. Open your eyes!"

"Natsu..." Clair said. Macao opened his eyes.

"Natsu? Clair? Kelso?" he said.

"Macao!" Natsu and Clair said.

"Macao!" Kelso cried. "You're okay! I'm so glad...I was so worried...I told Nab to tell Romeo that I'm doing a job so I can come here to find you, but I got trapped under the snow until Natsu, Happy, and Clair found me."

"You did, Kelso?" Macao said. "You almost risked your life to find me?"

"You're mad, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not...Kelso..."

"Macao?"

"Macao? You okay?" Clair asked.

"I am so pathetic," Macao rasped. "I defeated 19 of them. But the 20th took me over. It is pissing me off! Damn it! I can't face Romeo like this! Kelso can't, either!"

"That's not true!" Natsu argued. "Defeating that many is astonishing!" He extended his hand. Macao quickly accepted it. "Let's go home where Romeo is waiting."

* * *

Romeo was on the stairs, wiping his tears away from his face. He heard someone call, "Romeo!" He looked up to see Natsu with Happy, Lucy, Clair, Kelso, and Macao. He ran to Macao and Kelso.

"Tochan! Kelso-nii!" He crashed on them. He hugged Macao. "Tochan, I am really sorry!"

"I worried you, right? Forgive me," Macao said.

"It is okay. I am a son of a mage after all!"

"If those damn brats make fun of you again, tell them this: 'Can your dads defeat 19 monsters?'"

Romeo grinned.

"I want to say sorry, too, Romeo, for lying to you," Kelso said shamefully. "I was really worried about your dad, so I decided to save him. I almost died there under the snow until Natsu, Happy, and Clair showed up. Are you mad at me?"

Romeo shook his head. "No, I'm not mad, Kelso-nii! I'm so glad that you and Tochan are safe!" He ran a few inches and cupped his mouth. "Natsu-nii! Clair-nee! Happy! Arigato!"

"No problem!" Natsu raised a hand.

"You're welcome, Romeo!" Clair shouted.

"Aye!" Happy said.

"And Lucy-nee, arigato!" Romeo yelled. Lucy waved back at him.

"That was kinda fun," Clair admitted. Lucy immediately reacted.

"How was that fun?!" she exclaimed.

"That's Clair to you," Natsu said.

"Aye!" Happy agreed.


	4. Omake 1: Clair Vs Macao

**A/N: Hey, it's VZoomRocks128 again! I decided to make an omake after a story arc. Hope you like the first one! Enjoy!**

* * *

**Summary: Clair asked everyone in the guild to arm wrestle her. But someone unexpected replaced the mighty champion of arm wrestling as of now, Kelso Maddox. What's going to happen to the fierce Ice Dragon Slayer?**

* * *

After Macao's return from Mt. Hakobe, Clair bought a returning gift for him. Then she selected a high-rewarded request from the Request Board, since she was low on money.

"I don't feel like doing anything today." Clair slouched on one of the benches. "I'm so bored." She flexed her arms. "Hey, does anyone want to arm wrestle?"

When everyone heard her, they immediately formed a straight line. It remained like that until Kelso showed up, cracking his knuckles with pure anticipation.

"I'll go first," he announced. "So everyone, move out of the way." Everyone parted from his way. He sat down on a chair and set his arm on the table. "Ready...set-!"

"Wait, Kelso!" It was Macao who intruded Clair's and Kelso's arm wrestle battle. "I'll take your place."

"EH? NANI?!" everyone chorused.

"Macao?" Kelso gasped. Macao sat on his elder son's chair and set up his arm on the table.

"Before we start this, Clair," he began, "I want to make a bet with you. You say yours first."

Clair grinned. "If I win, you wear a dress for the whole day. And..." She leaned closer. "...You can't cower from this at all. You can't run away from this whatsoever."

"And if I win, you wear a sexy bunny outfit for the whole week. Also, you have to a picture of yourself wearing it and feature that on the Weekly Sorcerer Magazine. Deal?"

Most of the boys were drooling. Clair closed her eyes. "Deal." The boys ultimately fainted. Clair shook her head in irritation and muttered, "Perverts." She froze their mouth so they can shut up. "Sorry for the delay. Let's start."

"Okay, Clair." Macao crushed her hand. "Ready...set-!"

"BAM!" Macao turned Clair's arm to the other side of the table. "Looks like I've won." The boys' eyes became hearts. The ice from their mouth thawed, and they started drooling again. Clair sulked on her chair.

"No...It can't be..." she whispered. "This is so embarrassing...Your bets are way worse than Kelso's!" That statement made Kelso get ticked off.

"That's the best part about me!" Macao showed her a large-sized bunny outfit. "There you go! Put it on." Clair snatched it and went inside the bathroom to change. The boys tiptoed to sneak a peek, but Clair used her Ice Dragon's Roar on them so they wouldn't see.

* * *

When Clair came out of the bathroom wearing the bunny outfit Macao gave her, the boys' noses started bleeding. "Bunny-chan~Kawaii!"

Clair blushed heavily. "Guys...This is embarrassing..." She whined, hugging Kelso's legs. "I don't wanna take a picture in this!"

"Too bad, you lost the bet." Kelso brought his camera to his face, focusing on Clair. "Okay, Claryse~Say cheese!"

"Don't call me by my real name, Kelso! And I'll get you someday, Macao!" Clair got her picture taken for the Weekly Sorcerer Magazine.

* * *

_***A week later***_

"What the hell is this crap about this week?" Natsu opened the Weekly Sorcerer Magazine and ended up in a page where Clair was wearing a bunny outfit. "Uh, Clair? Why the hell do you have a picture of yourself wearing a bunny outfit?"

Clair put on her headphones and increased the volume. "Believe me, Natsu. You don't want to know."


	5. III Eliminate Daybreak

Clair was carrying her groceries on her way to her apartment room. When she set her groceries down, and out of the blue, Natsu suddenly crashed on her. She had to freeze his neck to get him off of her.

"Dude, what's the big deal?" She brushed dust off her pants. "Can't you see I'm gonna do something here?" She twisted the doorknob with her apartment keys.

Natsu touched his neck. "Ouch. I wanted you to be in a team with me, Happy, and Lucy. Oh yeah! We made Lucy to be a maid for this perverted guy for her first job. Me and Happy are geniuses!"

"Cool, I'm in, and gross. If it involves getting Lucy tortured, don't count me in."

"The reward is 200,000 jewels."

"I'm fricking broke. I'm in." Clair placed her groceries in her kitchen and locked her room. "Let's go."

* * *

After the carriage ride (where Natsu got motion sickness from as usual), Natsu, Happy, and Clair (Lucy went somewhere else) bought food from a nearby restaurant and started eating outside.

"Let's keep the oily ones for Lucy," Natsu said as he happily ate his meat leg.

"Why?" Clair asked as she carefully gulped down her sushi.

"She seems to like the oily ones," Happy said with his mouth full.

"Since when do I like oily things?" Lucy appeared in a maid outfit.

"Lu...cy?" Natsu said.

"You look good," Clair commented.

Lucy giggled. "I look good in anything, after all."

Natsu's and Happy's food dropped from their mouth.

"Oi, oi," Clair said.

"Have you finished your meal, Goshujinsama?" Lucy said cutely.

Happy engaged a quiet conversation with Natsu. Lucy overheard what they're saying and said, "I can hear you!"

Clair chomped on her meat leg. "Oi, oi."

* * *

Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and Clair arrived at a client's mansion. The client introduced himself as Kaby Melon.

"Melon?" Happy was drooling.

"You have a yummy last name!" Natsu was also drooling.

"Chotto, that's rude," Lucy said.

Clair slapped her forehead. "Seriously, guys? Do you have to comment someone's last name like that?"

Kaby laughed. "I hear that a lot. Well, then, let me tell you about the job."

Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and Clair agreed.

"My request is; tear up the book called "Daybreak", which is in the possession of Duke Everlue. You can burn it, too. Or freeze it. Or something. You can do whatever you want with it."

"I can burn / freeze it, huh?" Natsu and Clair said. "Then let's just burn / freeze down the whole mansion!"

"That's very easy," Happy declared.

"No! You would get thrown in jail for sure!" Lucy told them. "I want to know the reason."

"Who cares?" Natsu said. "It's 200,000."

"You just get rid of the book, and you're done. Bam! There's your 200,000," Clair said.

"No, it's 2,000,000 jewels," Kaby informed.

"2...2,000,000?!" Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and Clair exclaimed all together.

"It seems that you came here without knowing that."

"If we divide 2,000,000 by four..." Steam came out of his ears and suddenly exploded. "Whoa! I can't even calculate it!"

"It's very simple!" Happy announced. "I get 1,000,000, Natsu get 1,000,000, and Lucy and Clair get the rest!"

"You're very smart, Happy!"

"Aye!"

"There's nothing left for us!" Lucy and Clair knocked them out.

"But why?" Lucy asked.

Kaby tightened his grip. "I want that book destroyed, no matter what. I can't allow that book to exist."

Natsu's head was on fire. "Okay! I'm burning up!" He yanked Lucy from the mansion. "Let's go, Lucy!"

"Oi, Natsu!" Clair hollered. "Wait up! You're way too fast!"

* * *

Natsu, Happy, and Clair were watching Lucy seduce a perverted old man named Duke Everlue at the Duke Everlue mansion. Lucy failed because Everlue thinks Lucy is "ugly" and has a reverse way of seeing beautiful girls.

"You're useless," Natsu said.

Clair punched him on the face. "Natsu, shut up!"

"I'm not the problem!" Lucy sobbed. "That Everlue guy's sense of beauty is just too unique!"

"No, it's weird." Clair shuddered. "I don't want to think about their _faces_ again."

"Excuses," Happy said.

"Happy!"

Lucy's tears formed into flying rivers. "It's so humiliating!"

"Okay!" Natsu announced. "Since it came down to this, we'll use plan T!"

"I'll never forgive that old fart! But what is 'Plan T'?"

"The 'T' stands for 'Take them head-on'!" Happy said.

"What part of it is is a plan?!"

* * *

Natsu melted part of a window on the roof of the mansion. Clair was watching Happy picking up Lucy and putting her down.

"Here we are!" Happy said.

"Arigato, Happy," Lucy said.

"Aye."

"Geez..." Natsu groaned. "We decided to take them head-on, so why are we sneaking in? We should break through the gate."

"Yeah," Clair agreed and lifted up a battering ram over her head."I could've use this."

"Damn, that's huge! Hey, where the hell did you get that?"

"No!" Lucy said. "If we do something imprudent, the military will take action."

"Eh? What military?" Clair said confusingly.

"What's up with you? Didn't you say you'd never forgive him?" Natsu reminded Lucy.

"You said so yourself."

"Yeah, I'll never forgive him." Lucy did a thumbs-up. "That's why, while you two are burning or freezing the book, I'm gonna hide his shoes or something!" She giggled evilly to herself.

"Whoa, how petty," Natsu said.

"She's creepy in some way..." Clair said uncomfortably.

"Aye..." Happy agreed.

Lucy entered through the hole that Natsu melted on the window. "Is this a storeroom?"

Happy scared her by wearing a skull on his head. "Look at me." He showed it to Natsu.

"Wow, it looks good on you, Happy," Natsu commented.

"Guys, you scared her..." Clair pointed to Lucy, who was leaning against the wall. "We have find a room that leads to that old pervert's library. The book is gonna be there. If we find it..." She wrapped her hand with ice. "Natsu, let's destroy it together! That's our 2,000,000 reward, buddy!"

"Yeah, that's more like it!" Natsu and Clair breathed out fire and ice respectively. Lucy started freaking out.

"Don't be celebrating for yourselves, guys!" she scolded them. "That's gonna be tragic for me!"

"Oh, well. Let's start looking!" Natsu, Clair, Happy, and Lucy each opened a room, but none of them led to the library. They slid little by little quielty on the walls.

"But are we gonna search through every room?" Natsu asked.

"Of course," Lucy said.

"Wouldn't be faster to just grab someone and ask where the book is?"

"Aye!" Happy jumped in agreement.

"If you agree, Lucy, I could do that for you and torture them." Clair tapped on an electric shock baton. "I'm good with that."

"Damn, that's huge!" Natsu exclaimed. "Hey, where the hell did you get that?"

"We will accomplish our mission undetected," Lucy decided. "Just like ninjas. Cool, right?"

"Ninja, huh?" Natsu stared off into space.

Clair waved a hand in front of him. "Natsu? Hey, Natsu? Are you dead or alive?" She started slapping him repeatedly. "Wake up, Natsu! Stop imagining yourself as a ninja!"

"Once again, you paid attention to the most trivial part..." Lucy said.

Everlue's maids appeared out of nowhere. "Intruders detected!"

The gorilla maid's, Virgo's, eyes were sparkling. "I will eliminate them!"

Clair pointed at them, freaking out. "Ugly alert!"

"They popped out of nowhere!" Lucy gasped.

Happy roared.

"A goblin!" Everlue's maids said.

Natsu and Clair sent them flying with a single punch. "Shut up!"

Virgo's eyes sparkled. "Flying Virgo Attack!" Clair looked up.

"Holy shit!" She and Natsu were flattened by Virgo. However, they managed to carry her and defeat her with a single kick. Natsu and Happy pretended to act like ninjas.

"We can't afford to be detected~de gozaru!" Natsu said. "Nin-nin."

"Nin-nin," Happy copied his line.

"You are as noisy as usual," Lucy said.

"You'll get used to it," Clair told her. She saw double doors ahead of her. "Hey, guys. Could that be the library?" Then she grinned. "Let's destroy the book!"

"All right!" Natsu ran as fast as he could.

"Aye, sir!" Happy flew after Natsu.

"Guys! Be quiet!" Lucy scolded them breathlessly. She and Natsu opened the double doors carefully. Clair was right. The room is the library. Daybreak should be there.

"Full of books~de gozaru," Natsu said.

"Aye~de gozaru," Happy said.

"Shut up~de gozaru," Clair said in annoyance.

"Oi, don't mock the ninjas' way of speaking~de gozaru!" Natsu complained.

"Whatever~de gozaru."

"I never expected that old fart to be a book collector," Lucy said.

Natsu jumped joyfully. "Let's find it!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy said contently.

Lucy skimmed through a row of books while Natsu, Happy, and Clair find something random. Natsu pulled out a golden book that prints out "Daybreak" without looking at it. Lucy scolded him, but realized that was the book they were looking for.

"Daybreak?" she gasped.

"It looks like a sunrise," Happy commented. "We found it!"

"For real?!" Natsu and Clair said.

"That was an easy 2,000,000," Lucy said happily.

"Well then, let's burn / freeze it."

"That was very easy, right?" Happy asked.

"Wait a second!" Lucy snatched the book away from Natsu. "The author of this book is Kemu Zaleon!"

"Kemu?" Natsu and Clair repeated.

"He was a mage who was also a novelist!" Lucy started fangirling. "I'm a big fan of him! I thought I'd read all of his books! But this must be an unpublished book!"

"Whatever, let's just burn / freeze it already."

Lucy hugged the book tightly. "What are you saying? This is cultural heritage! Burning or freezing it is unthinkable!"

"You're abandoning your job!" Happy said.

"I said I am a big fan, didn't I?!"

"And now you're shouting at us!"

"Let's just say we burned or froze it, and I'll just keep it..."

"I don't like lying," Natsu said.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

Clair lowered her eyes. "That's ironic for you to say, Natsu."

"What? It's true!" Natsu exclaimed.

Clair rolled her eyes. "Okay..."

"I see. I see." Everlue popped out of the ground. "So, you guys were after 'Daybreak'!"

Clair pointed at him, freaking out. "Ugly alert!"

"What do you mean by that?!"

"See? All because you were so slow..." Natsu told Lucy.

"G-Gomen..." Lucy stammered.

"What's up with the floors in this mansion?" Happy asked Clair.

"I have no idea..." Clair murmured.

"I was wondering what all these mages were looking for," Everlue said. "So it was that worthless book."

"Worthless?" Natsu said.

Lucy blushed. "So, can I keep this book?"

"No! What's mine is mine!" Everlue said angrily.

"Stingy."

"Shut up, ugly."

Lucy was struck by a box that printed out Japanese symbols. Natsu's flame appeared on his hand. Clair cloaked her arm with ice.

"Shall we just burn it then?" he asked.

"Or freeze it?" Clair asked.

"No! Absolutely not!" Lucy wailed, hugging the book.

"Lucy, it's our job!" Natsu scolded her.

"Then at least let me read it first." Lucy opened the book.

"Right here?!" Natsu, Happy, Clair, and Everlue exclaimed.

"Seeing your hands on a book that belongs to my fabulous self, makes me sick!" Everlue said. "Vanish Brothers! Izo!"

"What the hell does he mean by 'fabulous self'?" Clair asked herself. "He clearly does not look fabulous at all."

The bookshelves parted and revealed three mysterious guys, one short, one medium, and one tall.

"Good afternoon," the short guy said.

"Even mama would be surprised to know that these kids are Fairy Tail mages," the tall guy said.

"Hmph, impressive," the medium guy murmured.

"That crest! They are from a mercenary guild, the Southern Wolves!" Happy exclaimed.

"So you hired these guys?" Natsu asked.

"Pfft, this should be way easy for us," Clair scoffed.

Everlue rubbed his moustache. "The Southern Wolves are always hungry. Prepare yourselves."

Lucy stood up. "Natsu, Clair, buy me some time. It looks like this book has a secret." She swiftly exited the library. Everlue dug a tunnel under him.

"My fabulous self will capture the girl! You eliminate these two!" he commanded as he descended down the tunnel.

"Again, not fabulous," Clair sighed.

"Yes, sir!" The Southern Wolves members replied.

"Happy, take care of Lucy," Natsu told Happy.

"Before that narcissist catches her..." Clair added.

"I'll back you guys up!" Happy said.

"No," Natsu said. "I alone will be enough.

"Ahem! You forgot about me!" Clair became frustrated. "Hey, you deal with whoever the Vanish Brothers are and I'll deal with this Izo character." She zoomed out of the library. The medium guy attacked her right away, implying that he was Izo. Clair landed outside of the mansion.

"So, you're Izo." She brushed off dirt from her pants and became surrounded with ice. "I'll take you on."

"I see. You're a hasty one," Izo noted. "Come on, ice mage."

"That's what I wanted to hear! Ice Dragon's Frozen Fist!" She jabbed her fist at Izo. Her attack didn't hurt him once.

"Eh? What the hell is going on?" Clair looked at her hands.

"I absorbed your ice magic," Izo said proudly. "Oops, I should've warned you earlier...Oh, well! You're going lose anyway!" He kicked Clair across the face. "I told you so!"

Clair wiped blood from the corner of her mouth. "Don't be so sure about that, Southern Wolf guy."

"Tch, you kids can be sometimes a pain in the ass." Izo extended his arm and his palm formed a light blue ball. "Freeze Reflector!" He release an ice blast at Clair, which created an explosion. "You're too easy!"

"Is that so?" Clair swallowed the remaining frost in the air. "Hey, thanks for using that. I feel better."

"WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?! I'M LOSING TO A LITTLE GIRL?!" Izo screamed.

"Shut the hell up! I'm sixteen!" A magic circle appeared under Clair. "Ice Dragon's Crushing Fang!" She defeated Izo in a single blow. "Hm...That didn't tire me at all." She froze when the mansion exploded. She saw the Vanish Brothers fried by Natsu. She slapped her forehead.

"Natsu, you went overboard again!" she hollered.


	6. IV Reversing Letters

"Geez..." Natsu said. "Well then, I guess we should go find Lucy. Who are those guys anyway?"

"We are mercenaries," the defeated Vanish Brothers slurred.

Clair did a few stretching exercises. "Okay. Let's go." She turned around and Natsu was gone. "Natsu? Where did you go?" She crossed her arms. "I guess I have to find Lucy myself."

* * *

Clair ran downstairs to the sewer and found Lucy telling Everlue about Daybreak's secret. Happy was there, too. "Lucy! Happy!"

"Clair's here!" Happy jumped in the air. "Uppa!"

"Clair!" Lucy said. Then she summoned one of her spirits, Cancer, a crab.

"Oh, it's a kani with scissors!" Clair shouted.

"The kani is here!" Happy exclaimed. He started dancing. "He'll end all sentences with 'kani~'! I know he will, he's a kani after all! That's the deal, so he has to!"

"I'm trying to concentrate," Lucy muttered. "If you don't shut it I'll make him pinch you!"

"Lucy," Cancer began. "What kind of hairstyle would you like today...~ebi?"

"Ebi?!" Happy and Clair exclaimed.

"Wait, this guy is a hairstylist..." Clair moved closer to Cancer. "I would like a haircut!"

"~Ebi?" Cancer said.

"Take a look at the situation, please. We're in battle. Beat that old man with the mustache," Lucy commanded.

"Okay~ebi."

"I thought it'd be a straight jab, but I got a hook instead," Happy said. "You can go back now."

"How about _you _go back?" Lucy said in annoyance.

Clair spun around in circles. "I'm confused for no reason!" Then Everlue summoned Virgo.

"What?" Lucy said.

"The same magic as Lucy?!" Happy said.

"I didn't expect that from an old man," Clair murmured.

Virgo erupted from the ground. "You called me, Goshujinsama?"

Clair pointed at Virgo. "Oh my God! It's the gorilla maid!"

"Virgo, take that book!" Everlue ordered.

"No way!" Lucy said. "She's a Celestial Spirit?!"

"~Ebi," Cancer said.

Lucy, Happy, Clair, and Everlue were surprised to see Natsu on top of Virgo. Clair fell on her back and seconds later, she and Natsu started arguing for no apparent reason.

"Why are you with Virgo?!" Everlue demanded.

"How did you do that?" Lucy asked.

"How?! She started moving, so I followed her and then suddenly...I don't have a clue!" Natsu said.

"Followed her? You mean you grabbed her, right? A human passed through the Celestial spirit world?! Unbelievable!"

"Lucy! What should I do?"

"Take care of her!"

"I help!" Clair volunteered.

"What?! I can do this by myself!" Natsu yelled at her.

"Oh, wanna fight again?! Bring it on, Hotheaded Asshole!" Clair and Natsu wrestled each other.

"Guys, we're not here to fight each other!" Lucy scolded them.

"Virgo, remove the intruders!" Everlue ordered.

"As you wish!" Virgo was about to smash on Natsu and Clair, but they dodged her attack and defeated her with their Fire Dragon's Roar and Ice Dragon's Roar while Lucy and Cancer defeated Everlue. Everlue's mansion came crashing down. Clair slapped her forehead.

"Guys, we went overboard again," she sighed.

"Aye!" Happy said.

"Don't say 'Aye', Happy!"

* * *

Kaby received Daybreak from Lucy. "What's the meaning of this? I'm sure I requested to destroy it."

"Hm, let's destroy it now." Clair formed icy particles of her hands.

"Not now, Clair!" Lucy shouted. "Destroying it is a simple task. Even you could do that, Kaby-san."

"Then I'll burn it," Kaby said. "I can't even stand looking at it."

"You can have Natsu do it instead," Clair offered.

"Yeah, I'm all fired up!" Natsu breathed out fire.

"Quit it, you two!" Lucy scolded them. "I figured out why you can't allow that book to exist. It's to protect your chichi's honor. You're Kemu Zaleon's son, right?"

"Huh?" Natsu, Happy, and Clair said.

"How did you know that?" Kaby asked.

"Have you read this book?" Lucy said.

"No, but I don't need to. It's a poor work. Chichi said so himself."

"Is that why you wanted to burn it?" Natsu demanded.

"That's right!"

Natsu grabbed Kaby's collar. "Burning it just because it's a poor work isn't reason enough! Your tochan wrote that book!"

"Natsu!" Clair tried to pull Natsu away.

Lucy blocked Natsu. "Natsu, I told you, didn't I? It's to protect his honor!"

Kaby told the story about his father being ashamed of writing Daybreak and revealed the full reason of why he wanted to destroy Daybreak to protect his father's honor. He lit up a match.

"You're wrong!" Lucy said. The flame faded. "It's begun!"

A magic circle appeared on Daybreak. Lucy revealed that the author's real name was Zekua Melon and he actually wrote the book for his son and he also cast a spell that repositions the letters in the book. Every letter in the book started arranging themselves. After the letters were repositioned, Kaby hugged the book.

"Tosan, arigato," he said. "There's no way I can burn this book now."

"Then we don't want the reward either," Natsu said.

"Aye!" Happy said.

"What?!" Lucy was surprised.

"So I came here to waste my time?!" Clair was furious.

"The job was to destroy the book and we couldn't accomplish that," Natsu told Kaby.

"N-No, I can't do that..." Kaby said.

"That's right! That's a generous offer, so let's accept it!" Lucy said.

"I agree with Lucy!" Clair stated.

"How greedy..." Happy said. "All the good things you said just got erased by those words."

"This is different!" Lucy yelled at him.

"We don't want things we don't need," Natsu said.

"I need it! I want it!"

"Let's go back. You should go back to your real home as well, Melon."

* * *

Lucy complained about not getting the 2 million jewels. Then she, Natsu, Happy, and Clair camped for the night. The next day, they were walking through a forest. They stopped when they heard a bush rustling.

"Who's there?" Natsu took off his backpack and jumped in the bush. He came out with Gray seconds later.

"It's Gray!" Happy exclaimed.

"What's he doing here?" Clair said.

"She says, 'Why is he in his underwear?'" Horologium said.

"I was looking for a toilet!" Gray answered.

"That's Gray to you," Clair mumbled.

"Why did you undress before you found one?!" Natsu yelled at Gray. "And there's no way there would be a toilet in a forest at the first place!"

"You shouldn't disturb people when they're in the toilet!" Gray and Natsu started arguing. Another bush started rustling next to Clair. Clair stuck her hand in the bush and pulled out Kelso by his hair.

"Kelso's here, too!" Happy said. "Yay!"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Clair gave Kelso a cold glare. Kelso did the same.

"Hey, I'm the only who can give glares like that." Clair pushed Kelso's head with her forehead.

"Well, sorry, Frost Face. No one cares." Kelso and Clair started arguing.

* * *

"I see. You two were are coming back from a job," Lucy said.

"Crossing this forest is a shortcut back to Magnolia," Gray told her.

"See? See, see?" Happy said out of nowhere.

Kelso snorted. "What? You caught something, Happy?"

"Happy was saying that he sniffed out you and Gray before everyone knew," Clair said. "But..."

"You were bragging about how good your nose is, but you couldn't sniff out Gray and Kelso, right?" Lucy said.

"There are things I don't want to smell," Happy said proudly.

Gray and Kelso got ticked off. "What did you say?!"

"You two are noisy..." Natsu said. "Go back already by yourselves."

"Yeah, you two. Scram." Clair put on her headphones.

"Okay, fine!" Kelso turned around. "Let's go, Gray."

Gray stood up. "Of course we will. We'll be in trouble if we don't get back as soon as possible."

"Yeah."

"Why will you be in trouble?" Lucy asked.

"Erza will be back soon," Gray said. That statement made Natsu and Clair dropped their jaws.

"Erza...You mean, the..."

Happy popped up with a fish in his mouth. "The one known as the most powerful mage in Fairy Tail!"

"Awesome! I want to meet her! But I've never even seen a picture of her in magazine...What kind of person is she?"

"Kowai," Natsu, Gray, Clair, and Happy said. Lucy was shocked.

"A monster?" Gray said.

"A beast?" Natsu said.

"A barbarian?" Clair said.

"A giant?" Kelso said.

"More like a demon!" Happy stated. "She's not that big."

"No, she's bigger than you think," Natsu corrected him.

"Your imagination can't even grasp how scary she is," Gray said. "And she's definitely bigger than you think."

"Nuh-uh, she's like the about the same height as you and Natsu," Clair murmured.

Kelso nodded. "Yup."

"Yes, like _this_ big, right?" Natsu asked.

"No, I think she can even break a mountain into 3 pieces with a single kick!" Gray said.

"Three pieces is exaggerating, I think it's more like two," Happy corrected him.

"I thought it's gonna be four," Clair said.

"Nani?! That lady is a psycho!" Kelso freaked out.

Lucy sulked. "A woman who can break a mountain into two pieces...She's kowai."

"Anyways, we have to go back fast," Gray informed. "Let's go, Kelso."

"Yokai," Kelso said.

"Crap, let's go!" Natsu panicked. An explosion caught Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Clair, and Kelso. They became stuck in sand.

"A mage?!" Gray said.

Sand spilled from Natsu's mouth. "Happy!"

"Oi, there's some sand coming out of your mouth..." Clair told him. "Chotto! Where's Happy?!"

Kelso looked down from the cliff and spotted five suspicious mages. "He got captured by some weird-looking mages down there..." Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Clair did the same thing as Kelso.

"Stop there, you jerks!" Gray yelled.

"Happy!" Lucy called.

"Thank goodness! I won't taste weird!" Happy cried.

Natsu was cracking his knuckles. "He's our nakama. We can't let you eat him just because you are hungry."

Kelso gave a cold glare at the five mages. "You guys messed with the wrong people."

"Come on, you can't possibly eat a live cat, right?" Clair said. "Um, Kelso. You're stealing my signature look again."

"Our glares look different, Clair!"

"You're mages, right?" Gray said. "From which guild?"

"That doesn't concern you!" the humanoid mage said. "Finish them!" The four other mages jumped up. Natsu, Gray, Clair, and Kelso defeated them while Lucy freed Happy. They tied the mages around a tree. Natsu and Gray argued while Clair and Kelso wrestled each other. They stopped when the humanoid mage uttered, "Lulla...by..."

"Huh?" Natsu said.

"Lullaby?" Gray echoed.

"Like the song?" Kelso asked. Then he, Natsu, Gray, Clair, Lucy, and Happy were knocked out by an unexpected force. The tied-up mages were crushed to the ground. They can't seem to figure out who did it.

"Oi, let's go home," Clair announced. "Let's figure this out later."


	7. Omake 2: Reading

**Summary: Clair receives a book from Levy after asking her and Lucy if reading is fun. Will she survive reading within a day or give up until the title page?**

* * *

Clair was staring at Levy and Lucy, who were reading books. She decided to ask them, "Is reading really fun? You guys just stare at random words all day."

Lucy jumped from her seat. "Oh, it's you. I thought it was someone else."

Levy set her book down on the table. "You asked if reading is fun, yes? To Lu-chan and I, we think reading is fun. It's like you're traveling to another world. There are some things you've never experienced before. It's so exciting! Oh, are you interested in reading a book, Clair?" She reached into her bag and pulled out a hardcover book. Clair stared at it wide-eyed.

"Eto...Levy." She pointed at it. "This has a lot of pages. I'm not gonna finish it in at least a month or so..." She sank on the floor. "I'm not going to survive!"

"It's not that bad, Clair-chan. You have to at least try reading a few pages. Oh, I almost forgot." She picked up the Gale-Force Reading Glasses. "Wear this, and you'll read really fast. I'm sure you'll make it in a few weeks."

"Is that so?" Clair studied the book and the glasses and zoomed away. "Thank you, Levy-chan! I'll read this!"

* * *

_***The next day***_

Clair swung the door open. "Wah! I'm done reading the book!" She raised the book above her head. "This is an achievement! Somebody, throw an achievement party!"

"Did someone say an achievement party?" Natsu blew on a whistle. "You heard her, minna! Throw a party! Today, she finished reading a very, very, very long book!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy said. He, Natsu, and Clair started dancing randomly. Soon, everyone joined in. Lucy came in, confused of what everyone in the guild is doing. Her eye twitched.

"What the heck is this?" she asked Levy.

"Since Clair finished a book," Levy began, "she threw a party to celebrate her achievement."

"That's all?"

"Woo-hoo!" Clair crashed on Lucy. She rolled away after.

"Man, this party is driving me nuts." Lucy brushed her skirt. "I want to read, but I can't read when the noise is around."

"Do you want to go to the park?" Levy asked. Lucy agreed, and went with Levy to go to the park. Clair noticed them leave, walking away while flipping pages on their books. She shrugged.

"Minna! Who wants more drinks?"


	8. V Eisenwald

After Erza came back from her job and asked Natsu and Gray to do a job with her, Clair and Kelso greeted everyone. They flinched when they noticed Erza was there. They ran away, but Erza caught them.

"We're sorry we're late, Erza!" Clair sobbed. "Please don't kill us!"

"We have an excuse," Kelso said. "There are some weird people trespassing our apartment and we have to kicked them out. Man, my head hurts really bad...I headbutted ten of them."

"Actually, you came just in time," Erza said. "I just asked Natsu and Gray to come with me to do a job. Since you two are here, I want both of you to come along with us."

Clair melted on the floor. "You're gonna kill us!"

"She's not gonna kill us, Clair!" Kelso yelled at her.

* * *

Erza, Natsu, Gray, Clair, and Kelso (Lucy and Happy came, too) arrived at the Onibas Station by train. Happy wondered where Natsu was, and it turns out that Natsu was still inside the train. The train departed. Happy waved while Lucy dropped her suitcase.

"I was all busy and forgot about him," Erza said. Then she tightened her fist. "What have I done? He has motion sickness! It's all my fault...just punch me!"

"Okay." Kelso cracked his knuckles. Clair slapped her forehead.

"Now, now..." Lucy said uncomfortably.

"Hey, Erza. There's an emergency lever over there." Kelso pointed to an emergency lever on the wall. Erza thanked him and pulled the emergency lever. One of the staff members came by.

"Hey, you'll get me in trouble!" he complained. "Don't use the emergency lever by yourself."

"It's for our nakama, please understand," Erza told him.

"You're pushing it!"

"Please bring our baggage to the hotel."

"Why me?"

"I guess everyone from Fairy Tail is like that," Lucy said.

Gray appeared with only wearing boxers. "I'm different."

"Where are your clothes, then?"

Gray freaked out. "Kelso, did you take my clothes off?"

"Why would I do that, stripper?!" Kelso shouted at his face.

"You took my bikini one time," Clair reminded him. "Ne, are you becoming like the rest of the guy mages?"

"I'm not a pervert like him!"

"That's enough," Erza ordered. "We don't have time to fool around. We have to save Natsu from the train." She tightened her fist. "Will someone please punch me?"

"Hey, it's not your fault..." Clair comforted her. "But...How will we get there? The train departed. We have no transportation." She jumped on the tracks. "Very well, I'll run to the train."

"Baka!" Kelso knocked her out. "You can't do that!"

Clair's eyes became spirals. "I'm dizzy..."

"Don't worry about that, Clair. I got a Magic-Powered Car right here." Erza walked to a Magic-Powered Car and patted on it. Lucy, Gray, and Happy were shocked. Clair and Kelso dropped their jaws.

"I'll drive," Erza informed. "Lucy, Happy, Clair, you three go inside. Gray, Kelso, you two go on the roof." She equipped the SE-plug around her wrist. "Let's go."

* * *

Clair spotted a running train. "There's the train! Natsu must be there!"

"Natsu!" Lucy called.

Natsu broke out one of the train's windows and knocked out Gray and Kelso from the roof of the car. Erza yielded the car to where Natsu, Gray, and Kelso landed.

"Natsu! Are you okay?" she asked.

"Aye," Natsu said weakly.

* * *

"That hurt, you moron!" Gray complained.

"Shut up!" Natsu shouted. "How dare you leave me behind?"

Kelso's eyes were swirling. "Am I in heaven?"

Clair violently shook him. "Wake up, Kelso! Stop being wasted!"

Kelso shook his head. "Oh, you're here."

Clair began choking him with her telekinesis. "I was with you for the whole time!" Then they tumbled on each other. When Natsu said that he met a guy from Eisenwald inside the train and he earned a slap and a scold from Erza, Clair and Kelso stopped fighting. Erza clipped on the SE plug.

"He was on that train, right?" she said. "We'll go after him immediately!"

"What was he like?" Gray asked Natsu.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Natsu said. "That's right! He had a skull-shaped flute. It was a skull with 3 eyes."

"A skull with 3 eyes?!" Lucy said.

"He has bad taste," Gray commented.

Clair felt she wanted to vomit. "Does anyone have a bucket? My stomach hurts...I think I ate too much..."

"Oh, you got motion sickness now?" Kelso joked.

"I said my stomach hurts, baka!"

"What's wrong, Lucy?" Happy asked.

"I know something about that flute," Lucy said. "Lullaby...the song of curse! Death Magic!"

Clair ran to a tree and vomited. Kelso turned away.

"The song of curse?" Gray said. "You mean an execration song?"

"I only read it in books," Lucy said, "but one of the forbidden spells is the death curse, right?"

"Yes," Erza confirmed. "A Dark Magic curse that kills the person it's cast upon."

"Lullaby is worse."

"HUH?!" Clair and Kelso exclaimed.

"Everyone, get in the car," Erza commanded. "We have to hurry."

Clair laid on her front, bawling. "I don't wanna die!"

"That's why we're hurrying up!" Kelso spat.

* * *

The Oshibana Station was smoking. While one of the staff members was announcing the situation, Erza asked him what's going on. She immediately headbutt him and also everyone else who she interrogated. Clair and Kelso couldn't move.

"She's still the same," Kelso uttered.

"What do you mean?! She was gone about several months!" Clair shrilled at him.

"Eisenwald is still inside," Erza announced. "Let's go."

"Yeah," Gray said.

"But, is _this _my job?" Lucy asked. Natsu was on her.

"Aye..." Natsu said weakly.

"You want me to help you, Lucy?" Clair offered. She glared at Natsu. "Don't try to throw up on me, Natsu."

"I-I'm okay..." Lucy stammered. "Thanks anyway, Clair."

* * *

Lucy (carrying Natsu), Gray, Erza, (Happy flew), Clair, and Kelso ran inside the Oshibana Station. Erza reported that a military platoon didn't return and probably was fighting against Eisenwald. Before reaching the stairs, they spotted military guards beaten on the steps.

"No way..." Kelso said quietly.

"They were all annihilated!" Happy exclaimed.

"They were up against an entire guild," Erza said. "In other words, against mages. Even a military platoon was no match, huh?"

A laugh came. "You're here, as expected. You Fairy Tail flies."

There numerous, strange mages dotted across from Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Happy flew, Clair, and Kelso. Clair and Kelso, frustrated, tightened their fists.

"There are so many!" Lucy was scared.

Erza looked up to a silver-haired man wearing a cape and wielding a scythe. "You bastard...So you are Erigor?"

While Lucy was trying to wake Natsu up, Kelso clenched his teeth. "I know some of you people...You invaded our apartment. Okay, which one of you stole Clair's underwear?"

"Oi! Why the hell are you saying that out loud?!" Clair choked him again with her telekinesis. "You're very embarrassing, Kelso!" Then she punched him. "Now, where were we?"

The black-haired mage with a ponytail, Kageyama, was furious. "You flies! Because of you, Erigor-san was..."

"What is your goal?" Erza's hair started to part. "What are you planning to do with Lullaby?"

"Don't you get it?" Erigor said. He levitated with the wind. "What can we use in a station?"

"He flew!" Lucy said.

"It's Wind Magic," Happy told her. "Silas has that kind of magic!"

"Ah, the Spectral Wind ..." Erigor grinned. "Too bad he and that Serpent girl, Petra, weren't with you..."

"What the hell do you mean by that?!" Clair screeched at him. "We have Erza!"

"You are planning to broadcast Lullaby?" Erza demanded.

Erigor laughed. "There are thousands of people around this station. No, if we increase the volume, the whole town will be listening...The melody of death."

"You're planning to make innocent people listen to Lullaby?!"

"This is a purge. A purge of the fools who live for keeping their own rights and safety, without knowing that those same rights have been stolen from others. It is a sin to live in ignorance of the fairness of the world. That's why...the Shinigami has come to punish them."

Lucy put her hands on her hips. "Even if you do that, your rights will not be restored! You were banned from the League because you did bad things, right?"

"We haven't come this far for rights...But for authority! If we gain authority, we can clean up the past as well rule the future." Erigor closed his hand into a fist.

"You are a baka!"

"Nice one, Lucy," Kelso commented.

"It's too bad for you, flies. You will go to hell without seeing the dark age." A magic circle appeared under Kageyama and cast shadows on the floor, aiming at Lucy. Clair and Kelso were up to defend her, but Natsu defended her instead.

"Arigato, Natsu!" Clair said.

"I owe you one," Kelso breathed.

"Nice comeback!" Lucy said happily.

"Well, aren't there a ton of 'em," Natsu said.

"Enemies! They are all our enemies!"

Natsu punched his palm. "This looks interesting!"

Clair, in chibi size, popped up behind Natsu. "You're creeping me out, Natsu..."

"We are Fairy Tail's strongest team!" Lucy announced. "Prepare yourself!"

"I'll leave the rest to you," Erigor told his guild. "Show them how fearsome a dark guild is." He vanished.

"Natsu, Gray! You two go after him!" Erza commanded. "If you two join forces, you can defeat even the Shinigami Erigor." After that, Natsu and Gray were glaring at each other, which made Erza yell, "Are you listening?!"

"Aye, sir!" Natsu and Gray ran away. Erza turned to Clair and Kelso, which made them flinch.

"In case those two don't find him, you two go after him as well," she said. "Understand?"

"Hai! We're going now!" Clair and Kelso ran away as well. Without knowing, they ended up in a dark hallway. They immediately hugged each other, trembling with fear.

"Eh? Where the fuck are we?" Kelso whimpered.

"NO! If we don't find Erigor, Erza's gonna kill us!" Clair wailed waterfalls. "We're gonna die! Kelso! I don't wanna die! Help me! Help me! Help me! Kelso, help...!"

"I got it!" Kelso interjected. "But, I'll make sure you're not gonna die, okay?" The most unexpected thing he knew was that Clair suddenly bursts into laughter. Kelso was ticked off.

"You admitted it!" Clair laughed hysterically. "You like me, don't ya?"

"Shut up, Frost Face!" Kelso saw two figures ahead. "Hey, Clair, stop laughing. Some people are here." Clair stopped laughing, and Kelso stepped forward. "Who the hell are you, people? Show yourselves!"

One of the shadows giggled. Kelso can guess it was from a girl. "You're very rude. How naughty."

The next one belonged to a boy. "If you insist, boy." Two young white-haired mages walked forward. They looked the same. The worst part: they were twins.

"I am Aiko!" the girl said.

"And I am Akio!" the boy said.

"And we're here to destroy you." They put on a dark expression. Clair surrounded her arms with ice.

"Yo, Kelso." She grinned at the dazed Kelso. "Oi, are you awake?" She saw Kelso shake his head out of confusion, trying to figure out what's going on. "Let's beat those guys down."


	9. VI Dealing With Lullaby

_***Five years ago***_

Markarov stood still on the counter. "I declare the S-class mage of the X779...Silas Carlisle!"

A lot of the members raised their alcoholic drinks in the air. The remaining part smashed glass bottles on the floor. Clair covered her ears from the obnoxious sounds of Fairy Tail's wild partygoers.

"So loud," she whined. "Why is Silas's promotion party louder than Laxus's? Does it go louder every year?"

Petra laughed. "Probably." She spotted Kelso approaching the table sadly. "Hey, Kelso. Why looking so down all of a sudden?"

Kelso sighed. "Silas is so cool...Why can't I be like him?" He threw his arms on the table's surface.

"C'mon, Kelso! You're awesome!" Petra sat next to him while Clair rolled her eyes. "What are the things you lack?

"Pretty much everything." Kelso shot a look at Clair, who snorted. "Shut up, Frost Face. I'm not that strong."

"Oi, what's the commotion here, people?" Silas approached Clair, Pilar, and Kelso. "What's up with Kelso?"

"He's really down all of a sudden..." Clair took a sip from her drink. "Can you check what's wrong with him?"

"Hell no. I'm not a doctor." Silas crossed his arms. Clair smacked him on the head, causing a bump to form.

"No, baka. I mean, ask him what's wrong, and just from there." Clair grinned proudly. "Simple as that."

"If that's the case, I'm gonna leave you and Kelso alone." Petra and Clair left the table to join Natsu and the others. Silas heard Kelso sigh.

"I feel guilty about what we did to Clair two years ago," he admitted. "I feel like I want to tell someone, but I can't! Help me, Silas!"

"Shut up, Kelso! Don't think about that anymore!" Silas pounded the table. "I know you wanted to be strong to protect others, but you don't have to."

Kelso straightened, confused what Silas is saying. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm not old like you!"

"I'm fifteen! I'm not _that_ old!" Silas took a deep breath. "What I'm saying is...You don't have to be strong to protect others. One day, you'll probably go on a job and you'll protect...maybe Clair from a bunch of weird-looking people, I dunno. I'm making you visualize to make you feel better."

Kelso shook his head. "You don't make any sense." He and Silas joined Clair and Petra on the congo line.

* * *

_***Present***_

Akio crushed Clair's spine. "What happened to you, flies? I thought you were supposed to be strong. How shameful." He stepped on Clair harder, causing to spine to crack.

"S-Stop..." Clair croaked. She wheezed when Akio stepped on her again, causing her more pain. "OW!"

Aiko dug her nails on Kelso's arms, causing them to bled. "Poor loverboy. You can't save your girlfriend now, huh?"

"You messed with the wrong person." Kelso kicked her stomach. "Yo, Frost Face. You okay?"

"Yeah." Clair fixed her spine and patted Kelso on the back. "Let's do this."

"How did she fix her back so quickly?!" Aiko and Akio screamed. They hugged each other.

"They're defenseless, now what?" Kelso asked Clair, who was spacing off. "Clair! Wake up, Frost Face!"

Clair snorted from her weird imagination. "What? Oh, sorry. What did you say, Maddox boy?"

"What do we do now?"

"Crush them, of course!"

"Okay, let's do it!"

Aiko and Akio aimed their swords at them. "Prepare to die!" They launched at Clair and Kelso.

"Ice Dragon's Roar!" Clair breathed out ice.

"Purple Fire!" Kelso released a purple fire ray. Aiko and Akio were struck. They fainted.

"Mama..." Aiko whined.

"Mama's not here..." Akio grunted. Clair and Kelso high-fived each other. When they realized that, they wrestled each other.

"Okay, okay...Truce." Kelso found a colorful article near Akio. "Hey, Clair. Is this your underwear?"

"Eek! Don't say that out loud!" Clair sent him flying in the air. "Anyways, let's for the others."

* * *

Clair and Kelso made it to the exit, but was blocked by a tornado. Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Happy, and Kageyama were there.

"Where were you? You're late," Gray said.

"We have to deal with twins, which drove Kelso crazy," Clair said. Kelso's eyes turned into spirals. Clair got irritated by him. "What's wrong with you, Kelso?!" She huffed. "So what's up?"

"Erigor cast a one-way wind wall, so we can't get out," Erza told her. "Kageyama is the only one who can dispel it."

"Kageyama?" Kelso stared at banadaged Kageyama, who lying on Erza unconscious. "Oh, the Eisenwald guy...Hey, do we have another way? I don't trust this guy..."

"If Silas were here, he can dispel it," Clair said. "Wait." She shook her head. "He's not here, so...Dammit! What can we do now?" She looked at Kelso, whose eyes are still in spirals. "Dammit! What's wrong with you, Kelso?"

Natsu scared Lucy out of the blue. "That's it! Spirits! I was able to transport between places by going through the Spirit world at the Everue mansion, remember?"

Lucy explained about entering the Spirit world. When she mentioned Everlue's key, Virgo, Happy scared Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Clair, and Kelso out of the blue. "Lucy, I remembered!" He showed Virgo's key to Lucy. Lucy squeezed his lips. He told her that Virgo wanted to make a contract with her. Lucy squeezed his cheeks when he was about to say something. He told her that Virgo can dig holes. Lucy started praising him and apologized for what she did to him. She summoned Virgo. The spirit looked way different than Virgo. Lucy became bewildered.

Kelso's eyes sparkled. "Pretty!"

Clair sent him flying. "Shut up!" When she saw Virgo transform into her other form, Clair freaked out. When Virgo slimmed down, she sighed in relief. Then she hugged Kelso.

"What are you doing?" Kelso asked. Clair punched him in the face.

"You saw nothing!" she said. She and Kelso saw Virgo dig a hole.

"Okay everyone, into that hole!" Gray said.

"Yeah! Great job, Lucy!" Clair and Kelso entered the hole and exited out of the wind wall. Lucy, Gray, and Erza followed while Natsu and Happy went ahead.

"Clair! Kelso! Go on without us!" Erza said. "Follow Natsu!"

"Wakatta!" Clair and Kelso sprinted away from the wind wall.

* * *

"The tracks here are broken," Kelso observed. "That means..."

"Natsu defeated Erigor." Clair fell on her knees. "So we ran to here for nothing..."

"Natsu!" Lucy called. "Oh, Clair and Kelso are here, too!"

"You guys are late!" Natsu said. "It's already over."

"Aye!" Happy said.

"As expected," Erza said.

"I can see that." Kelso glanced at the broken pieces of the tracks. "Oi, Clair." He helped Clair up. "Daijobudesuka, Frost Face?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Clair winced at her back. "That guy stepping on my spine still hurts, though..."

"Here." Kelso picked her up in bridal style. "I'll carry you."

"Um, thanks?"

"Let's go to the meeting hall," Erza announced. "We'll report what happened and let the masters dispose of the flute."

"Clover's not far from here," Happy added. Suddenly, Kage swept the team away with the Magic-Powered Car and Lullaby.

"That bastard!" Natsu roared.

"What the hell? And we saved him!" Lucy said.

"That's not fair!" Clair whined.

"After him!" Erza ordered.

* * *

The team spotted Makarov and Kageyama from a cliff. Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Clair, and Kelso were startled by the master of Blue Pegasus, Bob. Hearts floated popped around him.

"We're just getting to the good part. Now watch!" he said. Then he turned his attention to Natsu and Gray. "And wow, you all just so cute! Totally my type!" He came closer to them. When he saw Erza, he bumped them away. Then he turned to Kelso. "Oh, don't tell me. Aren't you the grandson of Cinder Maddox-chan?"

"Cinder Maddox has a grandson?!" Lucy squealed. "Kelso is her grandson?!"

"Didn't Mira tell you?" Clair asked.

"I remember! She did tell me that!"

* * *

_***Flashback***_

"What's Kelso's magic? I never seen him battle before," Lucy asked Mirajane. "I wonder who he's related to..."

"Oh, here's the good part." Mirajane smiled. "He's the grandson of one of the famous mages, Cinder Maddox-san."

"_The _Cinder Maddox?!" Steam came out of Lucy's nose. "I'm a HUGE fan of her when I was little! Since when did she have a grandson?"

"That's a long story. Anyways, since Kelso is the grandson of Cinder-san, he uses Rainbow Fire and Bullet Magic."

"Is that the reason why Kelso and Clair are fighting right now?" Lucy saw Clair wrestling Kelso. Mirajane giggled.

"Probably."

_***Flashback ends***_

* * *

Kageyama was about to play the flute. Clair was about to stop him, but was dragged away by Kelso.

"We said, keep quiet and watch. This is the good part," the master of Quatro Cerberus, Goldmine, said.

"It's the master of Quatro Cerberus!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Master Goldmine!" Erza said.

"Huh? There are only half of you?" Goldmine looked at Clair and Kelso. "Where are the other two?"

"Silas and Petra are doing a job right now," Erza told him. "They're coming back soon."

"That soon?!" Clair and Kelso gasped. When they saw Kageyama give up the flute after Makarov's speech, Clair burst into joy and breathed out ice. "Kage gave up the flute!"

"Don't party early! Something might happen!" Kelso shrilled at her. The team ran downhill to Makarov and random things happened. Something came out of the skull flute. A three-eyed wooden monster came out.

"Natsu, Gray, Clair, Kelso, move away from everyone!" Erza ordered. While Clair and Kelso agreed and Natsu and Gray complained, a sparkle came on the corner of her eye. "I'm counting on you!"

"Aye, sir!" Natsu and Gray dashed away. After the military retreated, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Clair, and Kelso stood in front of Lullaby. Lullaby cast its horrible Sound Magic.

"If Petra was here, she can mute this horrible sound," Clair sighed.

"Can stop with the 'If blah-blah was here, blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah?" Kelso mumbled.

Erza drew out her swords. "Let's go!"

"Right!" Natsu, Gray, Clair, and Kelso followed Erza to Lullaby and defeated it. After the smoke cleared, they realized they went overboard. The meeting hall and some mountains were destroyed. Soon, they ran away with Lucy, Happy, and Makarov.

Clair laughed. "Ahaha! That was so much fun! We kicked his ass so easily!"

"This isn't the time to laugh about it!" Kelso shouted at her.


	10. VII Returning to Magnolia

Clair's stomach growled. She groaned. "I can't take it anymore."

"I can't, either." Kelso's mouth turned into a squiggly line. "I wanna eat!"

Natsu and Gray shot looks at him and Clair. "Not you guys, also!"

"Enough," Erza said. Her stomach growled. Everyone's eyes widened (except Happy and Makarov). Happy jumped; his eyes shone and did the sparkling thing.

"Natsu, look at that!" Everyone saw Winged Fish under the cliff. Natsu, Gray, Erza, Clair, and Kelso were looking at Happy exclaiming about the Winged Fish being delicious. Makarov congratulated Happy for finding them. Lucy's stomach growled.

"Okay, we're fishing!" Happy announced.

"I'm not gonna waste my time fishing for singing fish!" Clair shouted.

"Then starve yourself to death."

"Shut up, neko! Fine, I'll fish!"

* * *

Clair collapsed on the ground. "I give up..." She smelled food. "Burnt fish?"

"Happy, eat it," Natsu said.

"I can't just eat it by myself..." Happy said.

"Aw, you're so nice, Happy!" Kelso grinned.

"If we split it up, it'll only make us hungrier!" Gray complained.

"Don't hold back! Eat! Eat!" Makarov said.

Happy's eyes sparkled. "Right then! Thanks!" He ate the fish. He reacted, "Gross!"

"It's gross?!" Lucy said.

"Screw this!" Kelso yelled. Everyone continued walking until they reached a village.

"Food!" They zoomed inside the village. No one was there. They yelled for someone to bring them food. Natsu and Gray were gone. Clair tried to look for them.

* * *

There were food and drinks set up on a table in a house that everyone entered. Natsu and Clair sniffed the bread.

"Okay! It's still edible. Let's eat!" Natsu said.

"All right!" Clair and Natsu were about to take a bite on their bread, but Erza stopped them.

"This is suspicious," she said.

"Yeah. It looks like they were just eating," Gray deduced. "Where did the people in this house disappear to?"

"How should I know?" Natsu said. "Anyway, let's eat, Happy and Clair."

"Aye!" Happy said.

"Yup!" Clair said. She and Natsu were about to take a bite, but Erza stopped them in a scary way.

"We must investigate this village first," she said. "You endured until now. Endure it a little while-" Her stomach growled. "Natsu, Gray, go search for mushrooms or something! Do not touch the food in the village! In the meanwhile, Master and I will investigate what's going on. Clair and Kelso, you investigate in the other side of the village."

"Wakatta." Kelso walked to the door. "C'mon, Frost Face. Let's go."

"Don't tell me what to do," Clair snapped.

* * *

Clair came out of a house. "Did you see anything suspicious, Kelso?"

Kelso close the door from another house. "Nope." The ground started glowing red and waving.

"Let's go." Clair and Kelso ran to the center of the village and found Erza and Makarov, along with Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Happy (with a mushroom on his head). The building started glowing red and waving.

"Seek out higher ground," Makarov said. "I want to check something."

"Minna, come." Erza led the others to follow Makarov. "Don't get separated!" The team found out that the buildings formed into monsters. A magic circle was under them.

"Master, that was a magic circle!" Erza said.

"NANI?!" Clair and Kelso said.

"All those seams you found were part of a magic circle," Makarov explained. "And that magic circle is the catalyst to activate the long-banned sealing magic, Alive!"

"Alive?" Lucy and Clair said.

"Have a look. It's as you see it. A magic that turns formerly inanimate objects into living, moving creatures. The people of the village activated such forbidden magic, but they ended up as food for the monsters, and not the other way around."

"But why would they do something so dangerous?" Lucy asked.

"This is a dark guild's village," Erza deduced.

"Huh?" Kelso said.

"A dark guild, eh?" Makarov said. "They were probably plotting something evil and did themselves in. However! Their despair is our happiness."

"Huh?"

"I did say that these things were alive, right? If they're alive...you can eat them!"

"Hontoni?!" Clair and Kelso exclaimed.

"Yosh! I'm gonna race down there!" Kelso zoomed down the cliff.

"Wait for me!" Clair chased after him.

"Yo, monsters!" A blue magic circle appeared in front of Kelso. "Blue Fire!" He burned a group of monsters..

"Yosh!" Clair climbed on top of one of the monsters. "Ultimate Freeze!" She freeze a crowd of monsters. She pulled out a piece and ate it. She spit it out. "Disgusting!"

Kelso choked and fell down on the floor. "This isn't making me feel good!" Monsters surrounded the team.

"You disgusting creatures!" Gray said.

"Now I'm angry," Erza said.

"You don't look like it..." Clair said. The team defeated the monsters, but there's no end to them. The magic circle under them glowed and sunk them in. The team fell into it, too.

* * *

"Huh? I don't get what you're saying, Master," Kelso said.

"Whatever, you're still young," Makarov said. "At any rate..."

"We're starving!" The team shouted.

* * *

Cana was hosting a gamble and let people bet on who will win the fight betwen Natsu and Erza. Clair was tapping her foot impatiently, trying to figure out who will be the winner. She placed her money in the basket. "I'll bet for Erza."

"All right." Cana marked another tally mark on Erza's column on the white board. Clair took out her pompoms. "Yosh! Go Erza!"

"Huh? What are you doing?" Kelso asked.

"Isn't obvious?" Clair continued cheering.

"I know what Clair is doing," Elfman said. "She is showing her manly spirit by cheering for Erza! Cheering is manly!"

"Um, Clair is a girl," Kelso whispered.

Makarov slid inside the circle. "Begin!"

The fight between Natsu and Erza began, but was soon interrupted by a messenger from the Council.

"Are you serious?" Kelso complained. "Why are the good parts have to be ruined?"

"Stemming from the recent Eisenwald incident, we hereby charge you with 11 counts of criminal property damage," the messenger reported. "Erza Scarlet, you are under arrest."

"Nani?!" Clair and Kelso exclaimed.

* * *

The Fairy Tail grew quiet after Erza's arrest. Natsu (as a form of a lizard) tapped furiously on the glass.

"Natsu, pipe down, will you?" Clair gritted her teeth. "I'm trying to calm myself here.

"Let me out! Let me out of here!" he yelled.

"Natsu, quiet down," Mirajane said.

"Let me out!"

"You'll just go on a rampage if we let you out."

"No, I won't! So turn me back!"

"If I do that, you'll just go rescue her, right?"

"No, I won't! Who cares about Erza anyway!"

Kelso glared at Natsu. "Shut up, Natsu! I'm trying to sleep!"

"It's the Council we're dealing with here," Gray said. "This one's out of our hands."

"Let me out!" Natsu still kept on insisting. "I have something I want to say! Council or no Council, those guys were the bad ones!"

"If you're innocent and the Council says you're guilty, then you're guilty. You seriously think they'd listen to us?"

Clair jabbed her fist on the table. "This isn't fair! We helped Erza eliminate Eisenwald and Lullaby! We did a good thing here!" She crossed her arms. "These guys...they get me on my nerves this time." She stood up. "I can't take this anymore. I'm going!"

"Oi, Clair!" Kelso pulled her collar. "We won't let you. Those guys are on my nerves, too. But...we can't just argue like this. They won't listen to us even once. So, just wait."

"...Okay." Clair sat back down.

* * *

Lucy stood up. "I can't just stay here! Let's go testify on her behalf!"

"Lucy..." Nab and Kelso said.

"Finally, someone who agrees with me!" Clair announced.

"Mate! Weren't you listening to me?!" Kelso yelled at her.

"No, mate!" Makarov said.

"What are you talking about?" Lucy demanded. "This arrest is an injustice! Once they override on a verdict, it'll be too late!"

"It doesn't matter how fast we go, if we leave now we won't make it in time!"

"But..."

"Let me out! I said, let me out!" Natsu roared.

Clair bumped her head on the table. "Can someone shut him up?!"

"You sure you want out?" Makarov asked Natsu. Natsu had a hard time how to answer that question.

"What's the matter, Natsu? You suddenly run out of steam?"

Natsu didn't move. Makarov released him with his magic. Macao appeared out of the smoke. Everyone was surprised.

"Sorry...I owed Natsu one," Macao apologized. "In order to pose as Natsu, I transformed myself into a gecko."

"That means..." Kelso gasped.

"So then, where's the real Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"He didn't go after Erza, did he?" Gray demanded.

"Yeah, probably," Macao answered.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Elfman raged. "That guy might actually try and punch a council member!"

"I thought that was one of the ways to be manly," Clair murmured.

"Silence, all of you!" Makarov boomed. "We will wait patiently for the results."

* * *

The next day, Natsu and Erza were out of jail. Natsu was celebrating his freedom immediately.

"Shut up, hothead!" Kelso scolded him.

"You're a hothead yourself!" Natsu remarked.

"Touche!"

Lucy put her head down. "So it was all an arrest for show...And I was so worried..."

Gray and Clair put their fists down on their palms. "I see! She's a scapegoat but not a sacrificial lamb!"

"You two are ice wizards, all right..." Elfman became scared. "That joke give me the chills..."

"Oi, aren't you supposed to be a man?" Kelso pointed out. "And nice pun, by the way."

"So, what about your man-to-man battle with Erza, Natsu?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot!" Natsu headed to Erza. "Erza, let's continue where we left off!"

Erza set her drink down. "No, I'm tired."

"C'mon, give her a break," Clair sighed.

Natsu's fist was ignited and ran to Erza, but it took one punch for her to beat him. Erza was declared the winner. Gray, Elfman, Clair, and Kelso were laughing at Natsu's loss.

"I was right!" Clair laughed. "My bet was useful!" Her laughter died. "I feel sleepy."

"Wait, it can't be happening right now..." Kelso yawned. Everyone soon fell asleep.

* * *

Everyone woke up after the mysterious mage, Mystogan, left the guild for a job. Lucy said Mystogan's name.

"One of the strongest men in Fairy Tail," Elfman told her.

"He does this because he doesn't like other people to see his face," Gray added. "When he comes to take a job, he always puts everyone to sleep like this."

"What's with that? That's way too suspicious!" Lucy said.

"I know," Clair said. "I wonder what he looks like..." She imagined of taking Mystogan's mask off without him being aware.

"I know what you're thinking, Clair." Kelso smirked at her.

"I'm thinking about something else, Kelso!"

"So no one than the master knows what he looks like," Gray continued.

"No. I know what he looks like." It was Laxus.

"You?" Clair screeched.

"What are you doing here?" Kelso demanded.

"Another one of the strongest," Gray told Lucy.

"Mystogan's shy. Keep your noses outta it!" Laxus said.

Natsu stood up. "Laxus! Fight me!"

"You were just beat by Erza a second ago!" Gray reminded him.

"Cut some slack, Natsu," Clair said.

"That's right!" Laxus agreed. "If you can't beat Erza, there's no way you could beat me."

"What are you implying!" Erza released a dark aura. Gray and Kelso turned into chibi size.

"Oi, calm down there, Erza," Gray said.

"Kowai..." Kelso muttered.

"That I am the strongest," Laxus continued.

"Then get down here and prove it, jerk!" Natsu said.

"How about you come up here?"

"Fine by me!" Natsu ran to the stairs, but got crushed by Makarov. Clair and Kelso sweatdropped.

"You cannot go upstairs!" Makarov said. "Not yet."

Laxus chuckled. "Seems you've made him angry."

"Laxus, enough!"

"I'm not giving up my seat as the strongest Fairy Tail for anyone! Not to Erza or Mystogan, either. I am the strongest!"

Clair sensed something weird about the wind current. "The wind feels empty. I feel no breezes."

"Masaka?!" Kelso slapped his hands on the table. "It can't be...He's..."

"Yo, Fairy Tail. We're back!"

Everyone turned to the exit. A tanned, burgundy-haired, young man appeared with an azure-haired girl with a jagged scar on her left eye, and a beige winged cat, which surprised Lucy. Clair and Kelso hugged each other.

"They're really here?!" they exclaimed.

"Yeah, the real men are back!" Elfman roared.

"Um, Petra and Jack are girls," Kelso said.

Laxus grinned evilly. "Ah, Silas. You're back. What a relief..."

Silas threw a knife over Laxus's head, which shocked everyone in the guild. "I don't need that kind of crappy sarcasm." The wind current became dangerously stronger. "All I want...is to settle this. Just you and me, Laxus."

"Oh? You're being serious? Ha, you're on!"

"Yosh!" Silas surrounded himself with sharp wind. "Razor-!"

Petra slapped him on the face with her water hand. "Enough. We just got here, Silas. Could you ease yourself a little? And you..." She shot a death glare at Laxus. "I'll deal with you later."

"Ha! Good luck with that, Petra!" Laxus said.

* * *

_***Night***_

"Sugoi~Aren't they Silas Carlisle and Petra Kawaguchi?" Lucy asked Mirajane. "Fairy Tail is sure full of strong mages."

Silas walked to Lucy, along with Petra and Jack. "So you're the newcomer, Lucy? I'm Silas. The girl is Petra and the Exceed is Jacqueline, but you can call her Jack or Jackie if you want. Nice to meet you."

"Mate, weren't you the one who defeated a mercenary Vulcan with your pinky?" Petra asked. "Man, we could use a strong newbie like you in our team."

"Soda! Soda!" Jacqueline agreed.

"Yeah..." Lucy said.

"The thing about the Vulcan is still going on, huh?" Clair asked Lucy.

"Yup..."

"You got the first impression down, Lucy," Kelso told her. "Congrats!"

"Yatta!"


	11. Omake 3: Welcome Back Randomness

**Summary: After the return of S-Class mages Silas Carlisle and Petra Kawaguchi (including Jacqueline), the guild goes crazy as hell. What's going to happen between the guild members?**

* * *

Most of the members in the guild huddled around Silas, Petra, and Jacqueline. "We missed you guys so much!"

"Didn't you guys say that like a million times?" Petra became tired.

Jacqueline was being squeezed by a Fairy Tail member. "I can't breathe! Help me, Petra-san!"

"JACKIE!" Petra managed to free her Exceed partner and hugged her tightly without knowing. "Gomennasai! Gomennasai!"

"You're squeezing me, Petra-san!"

"...Crap."

Natsu breathed out fire on one of the tables. "You two! Silas and Petra! Fight me whenever you're ready! I'll hope I'll win this time, Happy!"

"Aye!" Happy agreed. Natsu's wish was proved when Silas and Petra both sent him flying out of the guild.

"Um...I knew that Silas and Petra would win against you, Natsu!" Happy yelled to the sky.

"You never said that, you stupid neko!" Lucy shrilled at him.

Clair and Kelso choked on their drinks while Gray and Elfman were laughing at Natsu's failed victory. Silas and Petra exchanged high-fives.

"It's relaxing to have them back." Erza took a sip of her drink.

"You like the guild this loud?!" Lucy spat out her drink.

Loke slid behind Petra. "Yo, Petra. Long time, no see. Hey, I was wondering...Would you go out with-?"

Petra kicked him to the roof. "Hell no! I don't like flirtatious men."

"Loke got rejected by her again," Kelso sighed.

"Kowai..." Clair murmured.

Silas blinked. "Some dark mages were talking shit about me and Petra when we were gone?" He destroyed half of the guild. "What guild are they in?"

"You're going overboard, Silas-san!" Jacqueline pointed out.

"Mega kowai!" Lucy gasped in horror.

Kelso huffed. "Those guys were from Eisenwald, but it's disbanded after they got arrested. Some of them invaded the apartment, but it's okay now. One of them took Clair's underwear."

"Oi, don't say that to him!" Clair smacked him on the head.

"Ooh, someone has been naughty..." Jacqueline giggled.

Kelso flushed red. "I'm not like that!" He kicked her in the air. "It's none of your business, neko!"

"Chotto, did they go into our rooms?" Petra asked.

"Nope, I prevented that by headbutting them," Kelso answered proudly. Clair crossed her arms.

"Okay, I'm going to visit the jail." Silas rolled up his sleeves. "I'm going to give them a huge, pained-ass present in the history of their entire lives."

"He's really serious?!" Lucy's jaw dropped.

"Yosh! Go Silas-san!" Jacqueline shook her pompoms.

"Where the hell did you get them from?" Petra widened her eyes when Clair joined in Jacqueline's cheer.

"I can't wait." Kelso laughed maniacally.

"That laugh doesn't fit you, Kelso-kun," Jacqueline told him.

"Urusai, neko!"

* * *

_***The next day***_

Silas laid on the floor, exhausted. "Beat the shit out of them. All right! I'm going to do a job today. Let's go, guys."

"Huh?" Clair and Kelso set down their drinks at the same time.

"Silas, fight me!" Natsu challenged. Silas took one flick to make him faint.

"Come on, guys. I don't have all day," he announced.

Clair slouched. "Are you serious? I didn't get much of my beauty sleep."

"Snoring and drooling on your bed is not beauty sleep," Kelso said.

"Oh, so you're stocking me now, huh?"

"I'm not like that!"

"Is anyone listening?!" Silas sent out a dark aura.

"Aye, sir!" Clair and Kelso marched away.

"More people are being influenced by Happy!" Lucy fainted on the floor. "Help me. I'm dead."


	12. VIII The Missing Poster

Clair walked to the Fairy Tail guild, where she heard complaints about some cursed island. She swung the door open. "What's going on?"

"There's a missing poster on the S-class Request Board," Mirajane told her. "Happy took it."

"Then he, Natsu, and Lucy are doing it right now." Clair bit her lip. "What's the location?"

"Galuna Island."

Clair dropped her bag. "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?! THEY'RE NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE THAT KIND OF JOB!"

"Calm down, Clair!" Kelso said. "Relax, Gray's gonna get them back, but..." He sighed. "He didn't come back..."

"Probably because he's doing it, too! I'm going to get them back!"

"Mate, Clair," Makarov ordered. "When Erza, Silas, and Petra get back, I'll let them handle it."

"Yeah, that's fine." Clair ripped a poster from the Request Board. "I'll be back." She left the guild.

"Mate!" Kelso caught up to her. "Let's do this together."

* * *

Clair and Kelso arrived at Hargeon through train. Clair flexed her back.

"Ah! This place brings memories!" she yawned. "I first met Lucy here. Natsu beat the crap out of the fake Salamander."

"That's Natsu all right," Kelso said. He saw a beige, winged-cat in one of the boats. "Is that Jackie?"

"Hai-hai!" Jacqueline popped out of the boat. "Hop in, people! We're sailing to Galuna Island!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Clair and Kelso pressed their faces to her.

"Shut your yappin'. Let's go!"

Clair and Kelso exchanged looks. "Hell no."

"Aw, why not?"

"If either Erza, Silas, or Petra catch us, you know what happens next..." Kelso shuddered. Clair freaked out.

"You're Petra's partner, Jack," Clair said. "She'll kill you if you disobey her." She leaned closer. "Literally."

"Oh, come on. Her punishment is not that bad. Come on!"

Clair and Kelso sighed and agreed to hop in.

* * *

_***Night***_

Clair, Kelso, and Jacqueline stopped at a wooden fort on Galuna Island. There was a sign that printed: "Keep out".

"Hello? Anyone there? We're here for the job!" Clair called. Some people popped out from the top of the gate.

"Who are you? Wizards or enemies?" one of the people asked.

"We're from the Fairy Tail guild!" Kelso yelled.

"More wizards? Okay, show your emblems!"

Jacqueline showed hers from her back, Clair showed hers from her right thigh, and Kelso showed his from his left shoulder. The gate lifted.

"Thank you for cooperation."

"Excuse me, have you seen members of our guild pass by?" Clair asked.

"They're here. Right this way." The person led them to a guest house. "I will get you one."

"Arigato." Clair swung the door open. "You four!"

Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and Gray flinched. "Clair?!"

"And me, too!" Kelso made an appearance to them.

"Kelso?!"

"You almost forgot about me!" Jacqueline squeezed through Clair and Kelso. "I brought them here."

Gray choked her. "Why the hell did you bring them here?! If they're here to bring us back, Jiisan is going to be pissed with us!"

"Actually, Clair was," Kelso said. "She was hella screaming when she heard Happy took the poster."

Happy flew on Clair's shoulder. "Clair, Kelso, Jacqueline, Natsu and Lucy forced me to take the poster."

"You heartless neko!" Lucy shouted at him.

Clair looked at a window. "I made up my mind. We'll help you complete this job. Right, guys?"

"Since when?!" Kelso and Jacqueline said.

"_Right, guys...?_" Clair hissed.

"Y-Yeah!"

"If Jiisama kicked you guys out, the whole guild will be useless...no offense."

Natsu put his hands together and bowed. "Arigatogozaimasu! Arigatogozaimasu!"

Kelso raised his eyebrow. "Okay..."

"We better investigate this place by tomorrow," Clair said.

Natsu, Happy, Lucy, and Gray nodded. "Yeah!"

* * *

"What about you, Kelso, and Jackie investigate another part of the island?" Lucy suggested to Clair.

"Are you sure you can handle them?" Clair pointed to Natsu, Happy, and Gray who didn't get enough sleep last night.

"Don't worry about me, I got this!"

"All right, I trust you. Make sure the hothead and the stripper don't fight, okay?" Clair gathered Kelso and Jacqueline to another path. "Let's go."

Jacqueline raised her paw. "Hai-hai!"

Kelso brought his arms behind his head. "Hope I'll kick some ass there."

"Wow, you do act a lot like Silas-san."

"Don't mention his name at all for now. I don't want to visualize he, Petra, and Erza being here." Kelso pressed his hands against his temples and went insane. "This is your fault, Jackie!"

"Oi, this is your fault for agreeing to go here!"

"...Touche."

The ground rumbled under Clair and Kelso, causing them to fall down. A shadow flew above their heads. The rumbling died down.

"What the hell was that?" Clair growled. "Hey, did you see something pass by?"

"Yeah," Kelso said. "It was a ghost!"

"It wasn't a ghost, baka! It was a person...I think. If it was Silas, I'll freak out." Clair started yawning. "I wanna take a nap." She closed her eyes.

"That was fast!" Kelso exclaimed.

"Lookie, Kelso-kun!" Jacqueline raised her eyebrows, pointing to Clair. Kelso sent her flying in the air.

* * *

_***Night***_

Kelso glanced at Clair, who was still sleeping. He approached to her and stared at her face. Clair's eyes shot open and sniffed the air, which startled him. She looked up at the top of the temple.

"There are people who don't belong here," she reported. "I think they have to do with that purple moon."

"Good job, Frost Face!" Kelso slapped her back. "Let's go save the villagers! Jackie, let's fly!"

"I'm almost out of magic, so..." Jacqueline frowned.

"Fine. Clair and I will fly with our own magic." Fire erupted from Kelso's feet like jets. "All right! We'll find some huge evidence here!" He landed on the top floor of the temple. "You're wrong, Frost Face. No one's here. Except that purple light. Wait, purple light?"

Clair shut off her Ice Flight. "Really? Yay, we found evidence! But no one's here..." She sank on her knees. "Let's go back."

"Eh? We didn't try to investigate, Clair-chan!" Jacqueline complained. "You said you caught scents that weren't from this island, but no one's here. You got a stuffy nose or something?"

"...Maybe."

Kelso slapped his forehead. "You're the worst tracker ever."


	13. VIV Good Riddance

Kelso put his arms behind his head. "Ah! I wanna eat-OW!" He fell into a pitfall along with Clair. Jacqueline giggled, which made him ticked off. "What's your problem?"

"You do realize that you're doing something wrong here," Jacqueline laughed. Kelso flinched when he realized that he was top of Clair. He was slapped for that.

"Get off of me!" Clair kicked his chest, making him roll out of the helped her get out.

"Gomen ne! I didn't mean to put that there!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Yeah, you did," Happy said.

"Shut up!"

Clair glanced at Gray, who was unconscious. "What happened to him?"

"Oh. He was knocked out by this masked dude named 'Reitei'...I think that's his name," Natsu told her.

"He sounds suspicious."

"He looks suspicious. He has a fricking mask on for Earthland's sake!"

"Yeah, I heard ya."

One of the villagers pointed at the sky. "What is that?"

Jacqueline's wings drooped. "A flying rat?"

"Damn, it's huge!" Kelso said. "What's with the bucket?"

Two blobs of green liquid fell from the bucket. They were falling to Lucy and Clair.

"Watch out!" Kelso swooped in to save Clair while Natsu did the same to Lucy. The two blobs of green liquid melted on the floor, revealing to be acid. Clair sniffed something foul.

"Ugh! It smells!" Clair waved the smell away from her nose. She saw the rat throw the green liquid on the village. She whacked Kelso by accident. "We're gonna die!"

"Everyone gather into the village center!" Natsu announced. "Happy, let's fly!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy picked Natsu up. The acid exploded by Natsu's fire and it showered into acid rain. The whole village was dissolved. Four mysterious people appeared from the smoke.

"We must eliminate all of Reitei-sama's enemies," a girl with pigtails said. "Even after we tried to mercifully give them an instant death. It seems a lot of blood must be spilled."

"I can see that already." A brown-haired girl grinned. Clair eyed her dangerously.

"50 people in the village. 2 wizards. That should take 15 minutes," a short, blue-haired man with funky eyebrows calculated. A snort from a dog-faced guy followed.

"Let's go!" Natsu said.

"Yeah!" Lucy said.

"I'm going too! 3 wizards!" Happy volunteered.

"Count us three in! 6 wizards!" Jacqueline announced.

Gray stood up. "I can fight too."

"Gray, you regained unconsciousness?" Lucy asked.

"Get outta here. You'll be in my way," Natsu said.

"Natsu, don't underestimate me!" Gray said.

Natsu punched Gray, which shocked Clair, Kelso, and Jacqueline. "The injured should sleep it off."

Gray grabbed Natsu's scarf. "You bastard...One day I'll..." He collapsed on Natsu's shoulder. "...kill..."

"Natsu...Gray..." Clair whispered.

* * *

"Take care of Gray, okay?" Lucy instructed one of the villagers.

"Leave him to us," the villager said. "Okay, let's go!" He and the rest of the villagers walked away, carrying Gray along with him.

"We won't let you escape," Pigtails said. "Reitei-sama has ordered us to wipe you all out. Angelica!"

The rat, Angelica, caught the girl as it soared above Natsu, Clair, and Kelso. Lucy managed to grab on its foot.

"Yup, she's an idiot!" Happy said.

"She's nuts!" Natsu said.

"She's a member of Fairy Tail all right," Kelso sighed. He and the others sweatdropped when the rat crashed into the jungle along with Pigtails and Lucy. "I stand corrected."

"Someone's gonna be ticked..." Eyebrows said.

"I'm not ticked!" Dog Face yelled at him.

"Not you, idiot."

"She okay, you think?" Natsu asked. "Hope she's not crushed."

"She'd be dead if she was crushed," Happy said."I'll go take a look."

"Me too," Jacqueline said.

"Right. Countin' on ya two," Natsu said.

"Be careful," Clair called to them.

"Toby, Yuka, I'll handle the two behind Pinky," Brownie said. She slipped past through Clair and Kelso. "Catch me if you can!" She headed into the jungle.

"Oi! Get back here, coward! Ice Flight!" Clair chased after her.

"Clair!" Kelso grabbed Clair's leg, being dragged along with her. "Is that the girl over there?"

"Yeah, but I can't reach up to her. I'm way behind."

"I'll boost you up. Fire Flight!" Fire erupted from Kelso's feet and went max speed. He and Clair managed to catch up to Brownie. "'Sup, girlie. We gotcha now."

"You're fast!" Brownie gasped.

"Now, Kelso!" Clair shouted.

"I'm gonna take you down!" Kelso let go off Clair's leg and jumped on Brownie, and began crashing into the jungle. Clair cancelled her Ice Flight and found Kelso inside the jungle. Brownie nowhere to be seen.

"Where the hell did that coward go?" Clair demanded. "I saw you got her."

"It was an illusion." Brownie revealed to be on top of a tree. "A fire mage like Pinky and an ice mage like Reitei-sama...How wonderful. You seem to be worthy opponents. I know who you two are. Clair, the so-called Valkyrie, and Kelso Maddox, the grandson of Cinder Maddox. My name is Lucia, and I am here to eliminate anyone who dares to foil our plans."

"Oh, really?" Kelso made a battle stance. "Bring it on, girlie."

Lucia grinned and disappeared. Clair sweatdropped.

"Ugh! I did this battle stance for nothing!" Kelso raged. "Hey! Come out!"

Clair laughed. "Oh, Kelso. You're so gullible. Ice Dragon's...!"

"Clair? What the hell's going on with you?"

"...Blizzard!" Kelso was swept away and landed on a tree on his back.

"Ice Dragon's Shuriken!" Clair pierced shurikens around Kelso's body, making him immobilized.

"Clair, what's wrong with you?!" Kelso demanded.

"There's nothing wrong with me, Maddox boy." Clair stroked his hair and his face. "You're so handsome...Why didn't I realize this sooner...?"

"CLAIR, WAKE UP, DAMMIT!"

"I heard ya, Hot Head!" Another Clair kicked the Clair that was intimately caressing Kelso. "You bastard! You better have an explanation for this!"

"What do you mean? You were about to kiss me!" Kelso looked down at the Clair who fainted. "Oh...There's two of you..."

"Not just her." Someone attacked Clair in a blink of an eye. "There's two of us, Maddox boy."

"This is so confusing!" Clair sobbed.

"Ultimate Burn!" Kelso burned the frozen shurikens around him that the other Clair pierced with. "Come on, other me! Let's dance!"

The other Kelso grinned evilly. "Hell Fire!"

Kelso slid on the ground after getting hit. "You have no right to abuse my moves! Holy Fire!"

Clair sniffed a familiar scent from evil Clair and evil Kelso. "Is this one of your tricks...Lucia?"

"Huh?" Evil Kelso's fire went out.

"You're open! Flame Vortex!" Kelso trapped in a fiery spiral, and Evil Kelso was badly burnt. "Good job, Clair. I should take my insult back."

"I found out your tricks, Lucia," Clair said. "You use Illusion Magic. Isn't that right?"

Evil Clair and Evil Kelso disappeared. Lucia came out of the bushes. "That's right, Dragon Slayer. How about Round 2?"

"Wait, right now?"

"Photon Flash!" Lucia blinded Clair and Kelso with her Light Magic. "This is your end, fairies! Solar Beam!"

"Ice Dragon's Frozen Fist!" Clair punched Lucia under her jaw. The blinding light faded. "Now, Kelso!"

"Explosive Fire!" Kelso released a released a fire blast at Lucia and the fireball exploded in front of him and Clair. He went to see Lucia finally defeated.

"That was so intense!" he yawned. "We did a good job, Frost Face!" He high-fived Clair. Lucia dissolved from the ground, much to his and Clair's shock.

"Was that...?" Clair gasped.

"Another illusion?"

"There's a lot of us, fairies!" Numerous copies of Lucia stood on the top branches.

"Shit! My magic power's out..." Kelso said.

"Me too." Clair stared at her hands.

"This is your dead end, fairies!" All of the Lucias surrounded Clair and Kelso and activated their Light Magic. Suddenly, the wind current stopped.

"Razor Wind!"

"Flash Flood!"

The Lucias disappeared one by one until the real Lucia is left. A young girl picked her up forcefully.

"Silas! Petra!" Kelso said in relief.

"You two are lifesavers!" Clair said.

Silas had a dark expression on his face. Then Clair and Kelso stopped celebrating their happy moments.

"What are guys doing here? You shouldn't be doing this job." Petra didn't sound mad at all. She sounded disappointed. Then she hugged them. "I'm so glad you two are safe."

"You two..." Silas said in a low tone. "...were here all along." He shoved Clair and Kelso with brute strength. "What the hell were you guys thinking?! Where the hell is Jack?"

"Silas, stop it!"

"You know what they did, Petra. You don't understand."

"What do you mean by that, Silas? I understand everything."

"You don't seem to understand this situation."

Petra slapped Silas hard. "Bullshit! You insulted me too far this time." She surrounded herself with water.

"Are you guys seriously fighting?!" Clair and Kelso said.

Silas gazed darkly at them. "I don't want to hear you guys talking." He pinned them down with his Wind Magic. "Petra, listen to me."

Petra grabbed Silas's shirt collar. "No, you listen to me, Silas."

"I don't care what you're going to say," Silas said. "Let's go to Erza."

* * *

Gray entered the tent where Erza, Silas, and Petra were waiting. Lucy, Happy, Clair, Kelso, and Jacqueline were tied up.

"You're late, Gray." Erza stared darkly at him.

"Erza, Silas, Petra?!" Gray gasped. "Lucy, Happy, Clair, Kelso, Jackie?"

"I've heard what happened from Lucy. Weren't you supposed to be stopping Natsu." Erza stood up. "I'm speechless."

"Where's Natsu?"

"That's what I'd like to know."

"He should have been in the village fighting Reitei's lackeys, but when we went to check, there was no one there," Lucy said. "I figured that Natsu would be okay, and Erza told me to take her to where you were, Gray."

"Me and Jacqueline searched from the air, and that's how we found this storage area," Happy added.

"Gray, we're going in search of Natsu," Erza said. "When we find him, we're returning to the guild."

"What are you saying, Erza?" Gray asked. "If you heard what's going on, then you've got to know what's happening on this island!"

Petra glared at Silas. "Told you, Silas. You should've listen to me first."

"I told you I don't care," Silas hissed at her. She ignored him.

"And what of it?" Erza asked.

Gray didn't answer.

"Gray..." Clair whispered. Silas pointed his knife at her throat.

"I don't want to hear a single word from you," he seethed. Then he pointed it to Kelso's. "That goes for you too. And you!" He turned to Jacqueline. "We specifically told you to stay behind and don't any missions with others until we come back. What word don't you understand?!"

"Silas!" Petra scolded him. He ignored her.

"Silas, Petra, and I came here to bring back some guild-rule breakers," Erza continued. "We have not a sliver of interest in anything else."

_Silas, Erza, why don't you guys understand what's going on here? _Petra brought her tightened fist to her chest.

"Didn't you see what the people on this island look like?"

"We saw."

"And you're just going to leave them like that?"

"The request has been posted to every guild. Would it not be better to leave it to some guild wizards that take on the job properly?"

"We could do this on our own!" Clair said. Erza glared darkly at her. Silas picked her up and put his knife on her throat.

"I told you to shut up!" Silas yelled.

"Silas!" Petra shouted.

"Put Frost Face down, man!" Kelso said. "If you're threatening her by ending her life, then end mine!"

"Kelso, what the hell are you thinking?!" Clair choked.

"I misjudged you, Erza!" Gray said.

Erza had a dark look on her face. "What did you say?"

"How dare you say that to the great Erza-san!" Happy said.

"'The great'?" Lucy asked.

"She is great after all," Jacqueline said quietly.

Erza's magic sword appeared from a magic circle."You intend to break the rules as well?" She pointed it to Gray's face. "You won't get away with it." Then Gray lowered her sword on his guild mark.

"Do what you must!" he said. "This is the path I've chosen. It's something I've got to do."

Erza drew back her sword. Silas put his knife back and let go of Clair. Gray headed to the exit.

"I'm going to finish this." He turned to Erza, Silas, and Petra. "If you're going to cut me down, do it." He went out of the tent.

"Chotto, Gray!" Petra went after him. Erza and Silas were trembling.

"What did I just do?" Silas whispered. "I hurt Kelso, I almost killed Clair, I wouldn't listen to Petra even though I didn't let her say anything, and I almost knocked Jack unconscious." He bit his lip. "Give me a moment." He went outside. Erza turned to Lucy, Happy, Clair, Kelso, and Jacqueline.

"Hey, Erza, calm down!" Lucy said.

"Gray's just got angry 'cause he lost to his old friend!" Happy added.

"Cut me some slack! I almost got killed!" Clair gasped.

"Do the same thing for me! I almost gave up my life to save Clair!" Kelso said.

"Me too! I almost slipped into a coma!" Jacqueline said.

Erza didn't kill them. She slashed the ropes in half, freeing them. "The present situation is unacceptable. So we'll continue this after the present problem is solved."

"Erza!" Lucy, Happy, Clair, Kelso, and Jacqueline said happily.

"Don't get the wrong idea. You _will _be punished."

"Aye..."

* * *

"Deliora?" Silas said.

"Lyon's aim has always been to surpass Ur," Gray said.

"Talk about an obsession." Kelso nudged Silas's shoulder.

"That was long time ago, man!" Silas whined. Petra and Jacqueline giggled.

"Now with Ur gone, he wants to defeat Deliora, a foe that Ur couldn't kill, in order to surpass her," Gray continued.

"I see. So that's the only way for him to surpass someone who's dead," Lucy said.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"No...He...Lyon doesn't know," Gray said. "It's true that Ur is no longer with us. But...Ur is still...alive!"

"Nani?" Clair said.

"What do you mean by that?" Kelso asked.


	14. X Fighting Priests

Lucy tilted her head to the side, along with Happy and Jacqueline. "Huh? The ruins are...tilted?"

"What happened?" Happy asked.

"Natsu, I bet," Gray deduced.

"Yeah," Erza agreed.

"Not sure how he did it, but only he would do something nuts like that. It doesn't really matter whether he did it on purpose or not. Now the light won't shine on Deliora."

"That Flame Brain can be smart if he tried," Clair commented.

Lucy fixed her head to its original position. "Who knew that his tendency for wanton destruction could actually come in handy?"

"I knew. It was foreshadowed." Happy's head snapped to the other side, which startled Lucy and Jacqueline.

"Happy!" Jacqueline tried to fix his head.

Erza sensed sharp saucers from the bushes. She punched Lucy, Happy, and Jacqueline out of the way. "Watch out!"

"Erza, you don't have to do that..." Petra sighed.

"Who's there?" Erza demanded as she dodged the saucers along with Gray, Clair, Kelso, Petra, and Silas. Lucy, Happy, and Jacqueline bumped on the trees.

Clair sniffed the air. "That scent...They're aren't from here."

"I can see that." Kelso saw priests in the way.

"We've found you, Fairy Tail!" Priest #1 said.

"We won't allow you to interfere with Reitei-sama!" Priest #2 said.

"Yeah, I heard that from that Lucia girl earlier!" Kelso yelled.

"These guys..." Gray murmured.

"Lyon's followers?" Erza said.

"We're surrounded!" Lucy announced.

"Aye!" Happy popped out with his head still on the side.

Clair sweatdropped. "Your head's still not fixed, Happy..." She tried fixing Happy's head to its original position.

"Leave them to me!" Erza summoned her magic sword. "Go, Gray. Finish things with Lyon!"

"I'm joining too." Silas walked beside Erza.

"Us three will handle things from here." Petra stepped forward.

Lucy pulled out her whip. "Don't worry! We're here, too, so just go!"

"Aye!" Happy popped out with an eaten fish.

"I'll whack them with my frying pan!" Jacqueline accidentally hit her face with her frying pan. "Ow..."

"You guys..." Gray smiled.

Kelso patted him on the back. "We got your back, buddy."

"Wish you luck!" Clair said. Gray nodded and ran off.

"Everyone, don't start now until I say so," Silas commanded. Clair was starting to get impatient, so she bellowed "Ice Pillars!" and swept all of the priests down. Silas sweatdropped.

"Okay...I admit that was a good head start." Silas saw more priests coming in. "This is not looking good."

"Can I set off your trigger?" Kelso asked.

Silas cracked his knuckles. "You already just did."

"Silas, what are you thinking?" Erza asked.

"Stay back, everyone. You're gonna see the Spectral Wind do some awesomeness here." Silas formed an air spiral from his hand. "Tornado Blast!" He blew the priests away. Petra became annoyed.

"You destroyed all of them, Silas," she said in a low tone. "Don't forget, we're here to kick evil ass with you."

Silas rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, got a little carried away..."

Kelso spotted more priests coming. "This doesn't look good."

"Aw, come on!"

"All right! My turn!" Petra's hands absorbed water in a spiral form. "Cyclone!" Priests were being swept away by it and were thrown out of the island afterwards. Petra started sparkling. "I'm so awesome! I got them out of the island! Bwahahahaha!"

"Silas can send more than ten people to space with his wind," Kelso whispered.

"And also, that evil laugh doesn't suit you, Petra," Clair murmured.

"I can hear you!" Petra shouted at them. She saw more priests coming. "Kelso, Clair, this is your fault for making me shout because I attracted more of Reitei's...no, Lyon's followers."

Clair and Kelso bowed repeatedly to her. "Gomennasai! Gomennasai!"

Lucy sweatdropped. "Wow, that was weird."

"Yup! Petra-san can be weird sometimes." Jacqueline popped in front of Lucy.

Petra raised an eyebrow. "What did you just say?"

* * *

Countless priests surrounded Erza and the others. Silas stood still, sensing the air.

"Got something?" Petra asked.

"They have weak magic power," Silas said. "Only five of them are wizards. You know this, Lucy and Erza?"

"Yeah," Erza and Lucy said.

"So, can you handle it?" Erza asked Lucy.

"Leave it to me!" Lucy summoned Cancer. Kelso, Silas, Petra, and Jacqueline were sparkling.

"KANI?!" they gasped.

"Yeah," Clair sighed. She sweatdropped when she saw Cancer holding a bouquet of roses and kneeling before Erza under a spotlight. "Uh, what the hell is he doing?"

"I have no idea," Lucy said. "Anyway, make them all powerless to fight!"

"Okay-ebi...-snip," Cancer said. Kelso, Silas, Petra, and Jacqueline were shocked.

"EBI?!" they gasped.

"I know, it's weird," Clair said.

* * *

Silas dropped the last priest on the floor. "Okay, we're done! Who's next?" He cracked his knuckles. "Come on, don't be shy. I won't bite."

Petra frowned and lowered her eyes. "Uh, Silas...that's the last one."

Silas's eyes widened. "Hontoni?! There are so many of them that I couldn't keep track of every single one!"

"Excellent work," Erza said. "Let us hurry along."

"W-Wait!" one priest said. "We can't let you interfere with Reitei-sama!"

"Those hair ornaments...You are the citizens of Brago, aren't you? Have a score to settle?"

"Huh?" Question marks floated above Jacqueline's head. Then a terrible roar came from the temple.

"What the hell was that?" Silas demanded.

"It's Deliora!" Jacqueline exclaimed. "The one that Gray-kun told us about! It revived from the Moon Drip!"

"Nani?!" Clair said. "Gray and Natsu are in the temple!"

"Come on! Let's save them before Deliora does something bad like crushing the temple!" Jacqueline said.

"That's not gonna happen if you have me around!" Silas started sparkling. Lucy sweatdropped.

"He maybe strong and scary, but he's also weird, no offense..." she said.

"Yup! I agree of what you said about Silas-san!" Jacqueline raised her paw.

Silas raised an eyebrow. "What did you just say?"

"Okay, let's go to the temple!" Kelso said.

"Wait, right now?" Clair asked.


	15. XI Destroying the Moon

Erza hit Dog Face (Toby) with her sword. When Toby landed, he snorted.

"All right, now the Moon Drip will stop!" Lucy said. The Moon Drip magic circle closed.

"Wow, he was doing it himself," Happy pointed out.

"Too late! The ceremony's already over!" Toby yelled. A tick mark appeared on Silas's head. Petra sweatdropped.

"So noisy," he complained. He flinched when a new light took over. It was Deliora.

"Oh, no..." Lucy said.

Kelso raised his arms. "WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

Clair cupped her ear. "WHAT?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THIS HORRIBLE NOISE!" She saw Jacqueline being blown away by Deliora's roar. "JACK! DON'T WORRY I GOT YA!" She grabbed on Jacqueline's paws, and soon realized she was also blown away. "AIYEE!"

"CLAIR!" Silas launched himself to Clair and Jacqueline and got them. "That was close..." He began falling. "SHIT! WE'RE FALLING!"

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" Clair, Jacqueline, and Silas screamed as they crashed near Deliora's light.

"Ouch..." Petra looked away.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, PETRA?!" Kelso shouted at her.

"DON'T SCREAM AT MY EARS, BAKA!" Petra slapped him across the face.

* * *

The temple started rumbling. Happy, Lucy, and Clair looked to see what's going on.

"Look at that," Happy said.

"That's..." Lucy said.

"Water?" Clair added. Water poured out of the temple. "Is...?"

"Oi!" Silas waved from the ground. "I found Natsu and Gray in here with this dude...Probably that's Lyon...Get down here!"

"Natsu's here?" Erza stormed inside the temple. Petra sighed.

"She's not hesitant about this..." she chuckled nervously.

Lucy waved at Natsu while Happy ran into him. Natsu turned the other way and freaked out when he saw Erza and tried to run away, but she grabbed his scarf. Then moments later, Natsu spotted Silas.

"Silas, fight me!" he said.

"C'mon, you're all bruised," Silas said.

"A quick one!"

"Oh yeah, this is _sure _gonna be a quick one." Silas knocked Natsu unconscious. Clair, Kelso, Jacqueline, and Petra dropped their jaw.

"Good thing Natsu didn't ask me," Petra said. "I'll be annoyed." She saw Gray helping Lyon stand, which made her smile and blush at. Jacqueline smirked.

"What are thinking, Petra-san?" she snickered.

"I'm now annoyed."

* * *

"Oh yeah, it's finished!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Aye, sir!" Happy agreed.

Jacqueline blew on a party blower. "All right!" She fired confetti.

Kelso sweatdropped. "Where did you get those stuff from?"

Clair shook her pompoms. "Oi, Jack! Help me do a cheer!"

Jacqueline raised her paw. "Okay!"

"Did you actually packed those things before we left?" Kelso murmured.

"Really, I wasn't sure what was gonna happen there for a bit," Lucy said. "But Ur's really quite amazing!"

"I wish I wanna meet her!" Clair was sparkling.

"Now we all managed to finish an S-class quest!" Natsu jumped for joy.

"Hell yeah!" Kelso hollered.

"Yatta!" Happy and Jacqueline said.

"Do you think we can go up to the second floor now?" Lucy asked.

Petra was looking wide-eyed at Erza and Silas, who were staring at them darkly. Everyone froze.

"Oh, crap! We're gonna be punished!" Lucy said.

"We're gonna die!" Clair wailed.

"Before that, you have something to do, remember?" Erza reminded. "Wasn't the real point of this job to save the villagers who have been turned into demons?"

Clair and Lucy were confused. "Huh?"

"The S class quest is not over yet."

"But Deliora's dead, so won't this stop the curse?" Lucy asked.

"No. The source of the curse was not Deliora."

Silas flinched. "What?!"

Petra cried waterfalls. "Why can't I be smart like you, Erza?"

"You're smart, Petra-san!" Jacqueline comforted her. "Calm down!"

"If it wasn't Deliora, then what caused the curse?" Kelso asked.

"The tremendous magical power of the Moon Drip has caused disaster to befall on the people," Erza continued. "The fact that Deliora has now crumbled would not have improved the situation."

"Oh, no..." Lucy covered her mouth.

"Then we'll hurry up and cure 'em!" Natsu raised his hand.

"Aye, sir!" Happy high-fived him.

"How should we do that?" Gray asked. "Oi, Lyon!"

"Let me tell you: I have no idea," Lyon said simply.

"Say what?" Natsu said.

"'What!'" Happy copied him.

Clair sank on her knees. "How can we complete this mission now? I wanna go on the second floor!"

Petra waved her arms in the air. "Can you just shut up?!"

"Wait, if you guys don't know, how else are we going to..." Lucy said.

"Three years ago when we came here, we knew there was a village on this island," Lyon explained. "But we did not interfere with the villagers. And they never came to see us even once."

"Three years...Not once?" Erza said.

"That's kinda sad," Kelso added.

"And wait, the Moon Drip would have landed on the ruins every night," Lucy said. "So it's really strange that they'd never come to investigate."

"And there remain a number of questions about the effect the Moon Drip has on people's bodies," Lyon said.

"Wait...Are you trying to say that it's not your fault?" Natsu said.

"Think about it. We've been under the same light for 3 years."

"Now that you said it..." Silas began thinking about it.

"That's true! You're right!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Be careful," Lyon warned. "They're hiding something. Well, anyway this is a job for you guild people."

"Oh, I don't _think _so!" Natsu retorted.

"What the hell are you saying, Natsu?!" Clair demanded.

"You're the one who destroyed the..." Natsu was interrupted by Erza squeezing his cheeks.

"That's enough," she said. "They have their own version of justice. There's no need to criticize what they did in the past." She placed a hand on Natsu's shoulder. "Let's go."

"Go? But how are we going to lift the curse?" Natsu asked.

"Who knows..."

"I think I know how," Clair said.

"You do?" Natsu leaned closer. "Come on, spit it out."

"Yeah, spit it out." Happy did the same thing.

Clair punched them. "You're too damn close!" She sighed. "Didn't you say that the chief wanted us to destroy the moon?"

Natsu breathed out fire. "Oh yeah! Now I remember!"

"Wait, you wanna do it right now?"

* * *

"Is there something wrong with the village?" Kelso asked. It was the opposite. The village returned to normal. "Huh? This place was a complete wreck yesterday!"

"The buildings are back, too." Clair examined the houses.

"Destroying the moon will be a simple task," Erza told the chief, Moka.

"Did you say 'destroying the moon'?" Kelso grinned sinisterly, cracking his knuckles. Clair facepalmed.

"However, I have something I want to clarify first. Will you gather everyone?"

* * *

After Erza's clarification, she ex-quipped her armor while walking. "Natsu. Kelso. Come with me." She changed into the Giant's Armor. We're going to destroy the moon!"

"EH?!" Lucy, Happy, Gray, Clair, Jacqueline, Petra, and Silas couldn't believe what Erza just said.

"Hell yeah! We get destroy something!" Kelso announced happily.

"How are you excited about it?!" Petra yelled at him. "This is insane!"

"We'll destroy the moon, and everyone will return to their original forms!" Erza told the villagers. The villagers cheered.

"If we're gonna destroy the moon, wouldn't being on top of the ruins help?" Natsu suggested. "It's higher up than here."

"Not a bad idea, Salamander," Kelso commented.

"No, this will do," Erza said. "And the villagers can't get near the ruins."

"That's a good point."

Clair's eyes darkened. "What're they thinking?!"

"That's Erza to you..." Petra said.

"It's actually exciting to see them destroy the moon," Silas said.

Jacqueline raised her paw. "I agree!"

"You think this isn't an insane idea?!" Clair and Petra shrieked.

"This is the Giant's Armor," Erza explained. "It powers up my ability to throw. And..." She summoned her magic spear. "The Lance of Haja, which repels the darkness."

Kelso smirked. "This'll be fun..."

Natsu became excited. "Awesome! So you'll chuck that at the moon and blow it up?"

"Seriously, that's not gonna work..." the rest of the team said.

"However I do not think it will reach the moon with only this," Erza turned to Natsu and Kelso. "That's why I want you to give me a boost with your flame's power. When I throw the spear, hit the back-end of the lance as hard as you can. By combining the throwing power of the Giant Armor and your flames, we will destroy the moon!"

"All right! Got ya!" Natsu and Kelso said.

"Let's go!"

Clair facepalmed. "They are _really _insane."

"They're really _that _serious?!" Petra screamed.

* * *

Erza's spear with Natsu's and Kelso's fire boost struck the moon, which caused it to crack. The moon wasn't destroyed, however. It was the sky that was destroyed.

"It wasn't the moon?" Clair asked.

"There's something that's covering this island," Silas explained. "A gas from the creation of the Moon Drip became crystallized and served as a lens covering the sky."

"So that's why the moon turned purple," Petra said.

"That made so much sense!" Jacqueline said. "Yay! Now the villagers are going to turn into humans again!" But it was the complete opposite of what she predicted.

Petra sobbed on her hands. "Why didn't I catch this sooner?"

"Petra-san! Calm down!"

Erza walked to her team. "The evil lens didn't affect their bodies, it affected their memories."

"Their memories?" Lucy repeated.

"The false memory that they became demons during the night."

Clair trembled. "So does that mean...?"

"That's how it is."

That made the team freak out.

"They were demons from the start."

The team freaked out for the second time.

"They all have the power to change into humans. They ended up thinking that their human forms were who they really are. That was the false memory that the Moon Drip caused in them."

"But why were Lyon and the others okay?" Lucy asked.

"Because they are human. It seems like it only affects the memories of demons. It's also because they are demons that they can't get near those ruins. Beings of darkness could never get near ruins that have absorbed so much holy light."

"Impressive! I'm glad I trusted this to you." It was another demon. "Wizards...Thank you!"

Mako flew to the demon, crying, "Bobo!" Then the rest of the demons rejoiced of Bobo's return and announced noisily that a demon feast being held tonight.

Clair heard whimpering. "Maddox, are you crying?"

Kelso wiped tears from his eyes. "No, I'm not!" Then the rest of the team started laughing.

* * *

The team sailed back to Hargeon and traveled to Magnolia. Jacqueline sighed in relief while Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Gray, Clair, and Kelso freaked out about their punishment.

"Someone tell me what the heck the punishment is!" Lucy demanded.

"Why do you wanna know?" Clair asked. "You don't wanna know..."

Kelso shook Jacqueline violently. "Damn you, cat! Why're you off the hook when you're involved in this?!"

"Because I'm a cat!" Jacqueline said proudly.

"I didn't say you're off the hook, Jack," Silas said. Jacqueline trembled.

"Bye-bye!" Jacqueline flew away.

"Oi, get back here!" Petra chased after her partner.


	16. XII: Switcheroo

Clair was sobbing. "I don't wanna get a punishment!"

"You told me I'm not gonna get one!" Jacqueline said to Petra.

"Oh, I'm not gonna give you a punishment, Jack," Petra said.

"Whew, that was close."

"Silas is." Jacqueline was now sobbing next to Clair. "You're so mean..."

"Well, it was your actions that made us decide that," Silas pointed out. "Hm, where's Kelso?"

"Did we lose him?!" Jacqueline panicked.

"No, he's buying some food," Clair said.

"Whew...I thought he was a goner..."

One of Loke's girlfriends, Tori, was being dragged by Kelso's leg. "C'mon, Kelso-kun! I got two tickets for a month cruise! I want a strong, handsome boy like you to go with me!"

"Don't try to persuade me. You got a boyfriend, dontcha?" Kelso fiercely pulled his leg away from her. "Hey, got you guys food."

"Ooh, thanks!" Petra pulled out a sandwich from the paper bag. "

That doesn't mean that you'll be off the hook," Silas said. He noticed a plastic bag. "What's in there?"

"Bento boxes."

Silas's eyes started sparkling. "I love you, man! Give me all of the bento boxes to Papa!" He hugged Kelso tightly.

"You're killing me!" Kelso wheezed.

"That guy's a bento box monster..." Clair murmured.

Jacqueline raised her paw. "I agree." She flew over to another table where Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Gray, and Erza were. "What's that? A job?"

"This is probably the easiest job ever!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Yeah, if you're smart enough," Gray snickered.

"I heard that!"

"How is it easy?" Clair folded her arms. "Looks complicated to me. How the hell do you complete this?"

"You just translate words, and ta-da! You get 500,000 jewels!"

Petra choked on her bite of her sandwich. "NANI?! 500,000 jewels for translating words?!"

"I'll do the mission with you, Natsu!" Silas said with his mouth full of rice and meat. "I want to buy a million bento boxes with all my money!"

"You wanna get fat?!" Kelso gasped.

Silas sent him spinning in the air with his fist. "There's no way I'll get any fatter than this, kid!"

"Why is Loke-kun on the floor?" Tori demanded.

"Nobody cares," Clair muttered.

"Oh! I can read that!" Natsu said. "Let me see here...Uugo deru rasuchi borokania..." He gave up easily. "I don't get this at all!" The poster started to glow in rainbow colors.

"Groggy..." Everyone said. Then Gray started shivering.

"I'm cold!" Gray said.

"Why's an ice-user cold?" Elfman asked.

"What the heck? My body is way too cold!"

Lucy gasped. "Something's...friggin' heavy! My chest area is like really, really heavy! My back is killing me..."

"What's the matter, Lucy? You're speaking way lower than usual..." Macao said.

"That's not..." Gray freaked out when he saw Lucy.

Petra panted. "How the hell did I get this short? Why the hell do I feel heavier than before?"

Kelso's mouth formed into a squiggly line. "I feel something weird inside my underwear...Maybe I should take a peek..."

"Oh my God! You're so disgusting!" Gray yelled at him.

Loke regained unconsciousness. "Oh? Why was I on the ground?"

Natsu started sparkling. "And wait...Why am I standing?" When he made contact with Lucy, he immediately ran away.

"Oi, Natsu! Why did you run away when you saw my face?" Lucy said. "What's with my voice?"

"Oi! What the hell is everybody blabbin' about?!" Tori boomed. "And can someone get me ice?!"

Clair wailed. "Loke-kun! Why did you run away?! Wait for me, my handsome boyfriend!"

"T-They're acting different than normal..." Macao said.

"What in the world is all this ruckus?" Happy asked.

Erza suddenly had a cat-looking face on. "Natsu, check it out! Wait, who's Natsu?"

"Huh? What?" Loke said. "And man, why's it so dark in here?"

"I've got two neato boobs stuck to my chest! Look, look!"

The men were blushing. Happy became irritated.

"Cease that!" He was hit by Erza's armor.

"That didn't hurt much," Erza said.

"What is the reason for this cat form? Wait...I truly am a cat! I don't remember requipping this!"

"I guess we have the same problem," Jacqueline said.

Silas also had a cat-looking face on. "Ooh! I got taller. I bet I can reach the top of a skyscraper!"

"What in the world is going on?" Gray complained. "It's so damn cold! And why is there someone here that looks just like me?"

"Huh? What are you talkin' about?" Lucy demanded.

"Why are you people acting weird?" Tori crossed.

Petra pressed her forehead against hers. "Oh yeah? Why are you acting weird_er_?"

"Haven't you realized yet?" Happy said. "Our minds and bodies have...switched places!"

"EH?!" everyone said.

"What do you mean by that, Happy?" "Loke" asked.

"I am Erza!"

"I'm Happy! You're so mean, Loke..." Erza (Happy) whined.

"Be quiet!"

"Jackie, do you understand what the hell Happy...I mean Erza, is saying?" "Petra" asked.

"It's Silas!" "Jacqueline" said.

"I'm Jacqueline, Petra-san!" Silas (Jacqueline) wailed.

"Which means..." "Gray" said.

"Natsu and Loke...Clair and Tori...Gray and Lucy...Kelso and Petra...Silas and Jacqueline...And worst of all, Happy and I have switched places!" Erza announced.

"EH?!" everyone said.

"What do you mean, 'worst of all?'" Erza (Happy) said.

"Magical words of ancient Umpera-ese." It was Makarov. "You have activated Changeling."

"Master!" Happy (Erza) said.

"Jiichan!" Loke (Natsu) followed Happy (Erza) to Makarov.

"Jiisama! What do you mean by that?" Tori (Clair) asked.

"That request is the cause," Makarov explained. "When you read the spell, the people nearby swap minds. That is Changeling."

"Changeling?" Gray (Lucy) and Kelso (Petra) said.

"You're Natsu, right?" Lucy (Gray) asked Loke (Natsu).

"Yeah," Loke (Natsu) answered.

"What the hell have you done?"

"Don't ask me! All I did was try and read the request a little! And would someone turn on the lights?!"

"Enough, Lucy! I mean Gray," Makarov said. "It's not just your minds that swap...Your magic swaps as well."

"AW!" everyone complained.

* * *

"And one last thing!" Makarov continued. "If you don't the spell within 30 minutes of activation...You will _never_ be able to return to normal. Or so the legend goes."

Everyone freaked out.

"How long has it been since then?" Loke (Natsu) asked Mirajane.

"16 minutes," Mirajane replied. "So you have 14 minutes left."

"Jiichan! What's the spell to return us to normal?"

Jacqueline (Silas) sank on the floor. "I don't want to be stuck in a puny cat body forever..."

"You're mean, Silas-san!" Silas (Jacqueline) whined.

"I can't even use my destructive magic..." Tori (Clair) wailed. "I don't _think _you're girlfriend uses magic at all..." She pressed her forehead against Loke's (Natsu's). "...Loke."

"I'm Natsu!" Loke (Natsu) said.

"Sorry..."

Makarov rubbed on the side of his nose. "Well, it is an ancient magic...When it comes to something this old..." He faced the group. "I have no clue! And I was so looking forward to punishing you for going on that S class quest..." He walked away. "That's out of the question now! Well! Give it your best shot."

Crazy things happened. Lucy (Gray) tried stripping, but Gray (Lucy) stopped her / him. Erza (Happy) requipped into a fishing armor and Happy (Erza) got hit by her / his elbow. Petra (Kelso) started drinking beer which made Kelso (Petra) earn a brawl from her / him. Silas (Jacqueline) tried to fly, but failed. Loke (Natsu) was unable to use his magic since he doesn't know what it is, as well as Tori (Clair). Natsu (Loke) came back with fire drool and Clair (Tori) clutching on his leg. Happy (Erza) and Jacqueline (Silas) were adjusted to flying, which they claimed to be impressive, but they said that they don't have time to be impressed. Gray (Lucy) drooled ice chunks. These stopped when Levy came to the rescue.

Jacqueline (Silas) flew over to Levy and her team. "Yokatta! I don't wanna be stuck in this-"

"Stop being mean!" Silas (Jacqueline) complained.

"No problem, minna," Levy said. She and the others looked at the poster. "I know a thing or two about ancient writing. So first thing to do is examine the request carefully." She opened a book and used her Gale-Force Glasses to find the meaning. "Eto...'Uugo deru...'"

"Only 10 minutes to go!" Natsu (Loke) announced.

"Stop ruining the mood!" Tori (Clair) yelled at him.

"Stop being mean to Loke-kun, Clair-san!" Clair (Tori) wailed.

"Stop being a baby!"

Gray (Lucy) approached to Levy along with Loke (Natsu). "So, Levy-chan..."

"Have you figured anything out?" Loke (Natsu) asked.

"Not a thing!" Levy said.

Everyone was freaking out.

"Now calm down everyone! I'm still thinking!"

"Macao, the time!" Loke (Natsu) panicked.

"Eight minutes to go," Macao said. "Guess it's time to prepare for the worst."

"Ugh! I'm about to tear my hair apart!" Tori (Clair) raged.

"That's _my _hair!" Clair (Tori) said.

Petra (Kelso) drank more beer. "Shut up, Frost Face. Can't you see I'm trying to enjoy my beer here?"

Kelso (Petra) sweatdropped. "Here we go..."

* * *

"I got it!" Levy said.

"Yosh! You can undo the spell, right?" Loke (Natsu) said.

"Hurry, Levy!" Lucy (Gray) urged.

Jacqueline (Silas) sobbed on the table. "Yokatta! I don't wanna be stuck in-"

"Frying Pan Smack!" Silas (Jacqueline) swung his / her frying pan at her / his face.

"This ancient writing means ''," Levy translated.

"Yatta! Great going, Levy-chan!" Gray (Lucy) cheered.

"'With this eternal swapping, may you be forever happy'," Natsu (Loke) repeated. Then he began wondering.

Tori (Clair) scratched her head. "Mate, that doesn't sound right..."

"So..." Loke (Natsu) said.

"It means that the people who have swapped bodies will live together in happiness for eternity!" Levy translated. A block landed on everyone's heads. "Ah, I'm so glad I figured it out."

Petra (Kelso) collapsed on the floor. "You made things worse, Levy..."

"Oi, you're the one who made things worse for Levy," Kelso (Petra) shot back.

"So you only figured out what the request said, Levy?" Lucy (Gray) asked.

"You're right! What am I going to do?" Levy said.

"Levy-chan, we've got to undo the magic!" Gray (Lucy) told her. "There should be a way...You know, like a hidden meaning or something! Try something for that!"

"Okay! I'll do my best!"

Levy's cheering squad took action and Elfman joined in the fun. Macao soon appeared with Plue.

"3 minutes left!" he reported.

Petra (Kelso) smashed her / his beer bottle. "Stop ruining the mood, ossan!"

Kelso (Petra) shook her / him violently. "You're drunk!"

Tori (Clair) and Clair (Tori) hugged each other, wailing waterfalls. "We don't wanna die!"

Jacqueline (Silas) was drifting on the sea of tears. "Chotto mate! I don't wanna drown in your salty waters! Someone, help me! Oi, Jack! Help me get outta here!"

"Uh, you're a cat now, so you can fly," Silas (Jacqueline) said.

"I can't! My 'wings' are soaked. You can fly, too, ya know!"

"Really?"

Jacqueline (Silas) facepalmed. "You forgot?"

"Oh we're in trouble now...We're at the one minute mark!" Macao reported.

"I just warned you already..." Petra (Kelso) slurred.

"Stop drinking, you bastard!" Kelso (Petra) scolded him.

"Oh, you wanna fight again, neesan?"

"Bring it on!"

Silas (Jacqueline) tried to get Jacqueline (Silas) out of the water. "You're heavy, Silas-san!"

"Weak!" Jacqueline (Silas) yelled at him / her.

"I'm not sure how accurate this is, but 40 seconds to go!" Macao said. "Probably."

"What do you mean, 'probably?!'" Loke (Natsu) and Tori (Clair) yelled at him.

"I remembered something!" Makarov announced.

"What is it?" Happy (Erza) asked.

"When undoing this magic, I think you can only do it one pair one pair at a time. It's impossible to do everyone at once."

"Nani?" Loke (Natsu) and Tori (Clair) exclaimed.

"30 seconds left!" Macao said. "About."

"Which pair'll go first?" Lucy (Gray) said.

"Me and Loke, of course! Right, Loke?" Loke (Natsu) said.

Natsu (Loke) was sparkling. "Soda!"

"Not on my life! We'll be going first!" Gray (Lucy) said.

Happy (Erza) was ticked off. "Mate! What'll happen to Fairy Tail if I stay like this? Happy and I will go first!"

"I don't mind one way or the other," Erza (Happy) said.

"Erza's right!" Jacqueline (Silas) agreed. "But Jack and I will go first!"

"Yeah, Silas-san!" Silas (Jacqueline) said.

"I agree, too, but Kelso and I will go first!" Kelso (Petra) volunteered. "Plus, I can't deal with this drunk bastard calling me his older sister...Ugh! Come on! Let us go first!"

"Yosh, neesan!" Petra (Kelso) slurred.

"The S class got out of control, but I prefer undoing the Ice Dragon Slayer and the one who can't do magic first," Tori (Clair) suggested. "How am I going to survive without magic?!"

"I suck at using magic, Clair-san!" Clair (Tori) complained.

"Coming up on 15 seconds!" Macao reported.

"I got it!" Levy said.

"12, 11..."

"Levy-chan!" Gray (Lucy) said.

"It's like this! Let me explain!" Levy said.

"9, 8..." Macao got interrupted by Loke's (Natsu's) punch.

"Levy, save the explaining for later!" he told Levy. "Hayaku!"

"Wakatta! Here I go!" Levy performed the reversing spell. "Aruboroya tersura rugi gouu!"

Lucy and Gray were the known ones who got back to normal. The others...well, bad luck for them. Everyone else...They swapped places, too, thanks to Levy's mistranslation.

"This isn't fair!" Tori (Clair) said. "I can't use magic at all."

Clair (Tori) was flying at different places using Tori's (Clair's) Ice Flight. "I'm going to crash!"


	17. XIII: Hope

Petra ripped a random job from the S-Class Request Board and rushed downstairs to show the poster to Mirajane. "I'm going to do this job."

"Hai, have a nice day!" Mirajane said.

"Jackie! Let's go! We gotta catch up to the train!"

"Okay!" Jacqueline swooped up Petra and hovered above the buildings. Petra sighed and smiled at her partner.

"Good thing I have you as my partner." She remembered how Jacqueline was born six years ago, when she was thirteen.

* * *

_***Six years ago***_

It had been two weeks since Happy was born, and some happiness of the guild faded. Petra thought everyday that one day Erza and Mirajane will cease their fight.

Unfortunately, she was wrong.

"Erza, let's fight again!" Mirajane yelled.

"Again?" Mirajane's little sister, Lisanna, complained.

"That's five days in a row, neechan!" Elfman said. "Petra, can you stop them? I can't take this anymore!"

Petra sighed. "I wish I could, but..." She looked at her hands and closed them. "I'm not strong enough."

Mirajane crossed her arms. "Hmph, just as I expected."

"Don't you dare pick on her," Erza warned. "She is one of my best friends and I know her better than anyone else."

"Oh yeah? Do you know that she doesn't have any magic at all? Pathetic! How can she call herself a wizard of Fairy Tail? It's been two years since she joined this guild. She should've learned magic by now!"

"You're taking this way too far!"

"Mira! That's enough! I don't want another word coming out of your mouth!"

Erza, Mirajane, and Petra looked up. "Silas?!"

Silas only turned his attention to Mirajane. "What did I tell you before? It doesn't matter if someone can't learn magic. They'll learn it somehow. Just leave Petra alone."

Mirajane backed out. "Chill, Wind Man! I wasn't gonna kill Petra or anything."

"Hm? Looks like you're about to."

"Tch." Mirajane sat back on the table where her siblings were.

Silas turned around. "I won't be coming back until tomorrow. Gotta catch up to a train." He checked his watch. "Oh shit! Gotta go! Bye, everyone! See ya later!"

Erza looked at Petra, who appeared to be very sad. "What's wrong? Silas took care of Mira for you."

"I'm fine," Petra answered. "I just need a walk."

* * *

Before reaching home, Petra saw a person running towards her carrying something heavy on his back. The guy panted in front of her, which made her look up.

"Hello, Traveler-san," she said. "Are you lost? Do you need help? My name is Petra Kawaguchi.

"Eh? No no no no!" the traveler said. "I just need to ask someone nearby to take care of something. Oh, how rude of me! My name is Quincy by the way." He set down his backpack and pulled out a wrapped, round object. "Can you take care of this for me? Just say yes and I'll go!"

"Um, yes...?"

"Arigatogozaimasu!" He zoomed away. Petra shrugged and unwrapped the thing. It was an egg, with beige markings on it. She widened her eyes and started sparkling.

"Eek! So pretty!" She hugged it tightly. "I'll take care of you."

* * *

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "So a random person just gave this egg to you?"

Petra nodded. "Yup! I wanna hatch it!"

"In that case...Let's burn it!"

"NATSU!"

Clair smashed Natsu's head with her Ice Dragon's Fist. "You're a baka, Natsu! We don't burn the egg right away. To make this beautiful egg hatch...Let's freeze it! Mwahahaha!"

"CLAIR!"

"You gotta make it warm, guys. That's how eggs hatch."

Natsu, Clair, and Petra looked up. "Silas!"

"I have an idea that is way more awesome than Natsu's and Clair's." Kelso cleared his throat. "Since Silas said that eggs hatch from warmth, why don't he help Petra hatch it? That way, it'll make things look adorable." He snickered.

"Oh, I got you." Gray snickered as well.

Silas smashed Kelso and Gray to the wall. "I can hear you!" He sighed and shook his head. "Fine, Kelso. Do you mind if I hatch this egg with you, Petra?"

Petra shrugged. "I don't care. As long as awkward this don't happen."

"Why don't you come over to my house? It's more bigger. Oh yeah, you're staying there until the egg hatches."

Petra blinked. "Eh?"

* * *

Petra danced around Silas's living while carrying the egg. "Ooh! Your house is so roomy! Are you rich?"

Silas hauled the last batch of Petra's luggage. "I completed a lot of jobs, that's why. And you didn't have to bring everything in my house."

"I'm not supposed to?"

"Hm, I'm guessing this is your first time staying in a person's house. That's fine. Just don't bring everything next time."

Petra noticed a fire place. "Ooh! Is it okay if I sleep here tonight? You said that the egg needs warmth to hatch. So, here it is!"

"Yeah, that's fine, but don't burn yourself, ya hear?"

"And one more thing...Can you sleep with me?"

Silas was speechless. Petra cocked her head to the side.

"Silas...?"

Silas let out a snort. "Huh? Oh, whatever."

* * *

Silas saw Petra already sleeping, hugging her egg close. He slipped inside his blanket and looked at Petra again.

_I_ _have to admit, she looks cute when she sleeps. _Silas snuggled closer to Petra and shut his eyes.

* * *

"Petra!"

Petra's eyes shot open and barged outside. "Silas!" She looked up and tightened his fists. "You're Terrance, one of the infamous dark mages! How did you escape from prison?"

"It's all about stealth, girl!" Terrance said. "Try to get your boyfriend, your precious egg, and your guild!" He vanished into thin air.

"Oh no, you don't!" Petra zoomed to the guild.

* * *

Clair tried fighting against Terrance, but resulted her to be pushed back. "Dammit!" She noticed Laxus leaning against a pole, listening to music. "Oi, Blondie! Get out of your headphones and finish this guy!"

Lacud turned around. "Huh?"

Clair facepalmed. "Never mind."

Petra managed to kick Terrance on the face. "Gotcha!"

"Go, Petra!" Kelso cheered.

"Shred this guy into pieces!" Natsu and Gray said. Once they found each other's stares, they started fighting.

"Guys! You're not helping!" Clair yelled at them. She saw Erza and Mirajane arguing. "You guys aren't helping, either!"

"I heard about you, Petra Kawaguchi," Terrance said. "You're the only Fairy Tail mage who can't use magic." He cackled. "What's his name? Quincy? He gave you this egg, right?"

Petra widened her eyes. "Don't tell me...You're after that egg! That's why Quincy-san told me to take care of it!"

"Now this egg will be mine and I'll sell it for a billion jewels!"

Silas managed to punch Terrance under the jaw. "Shut it, man! You will never have this egg!"

Terrance wiped blood from his chin. "Che...You just earned yourself to get killed...Silas Carlisle, the Spetral Wind."

Petra felt something abnormal building inside her. "Never mess with my nakama!" She roared at the sky. Swirls of water wrapped around her. The Fairy Tail members stared at her in awe.

"Petra can use Water Magic..." Silas said breathlessly.

"You better dodge this, Silas. Depth Surge!" Petra aimed her wave at Terrance and it consumed him. Silas was floating, carrying the egg to safety. Petra sighed in relief. The Fairy Tail guild celebrated. Suddenly, the egg cracked.

"Shit!" Silas hissed.

"What the hell did you do?!" Petra gripped on his shirt.

"I didn't do anything! I swear!"

The egg cracked open and a beige light came out. It was a winged-cat, just like Happy.

"Another neko?!" Macao and Wakaba exclaimed.

"All right, Happy! You're not alone!" Natsu said.

"Aye!" Happy agreed.

"Kawaii!" Lisanna squealed. "What are you going to name her?"

Petra and Silas exchanged glances. "It's a girl?"

"The name sure isn't gonna be Happy," Natsu said. "Coz I named my partner that. Right, Happy?"

"Aye!" Happy agreed.

"What are going to name her?"

Petra thought for a moment. "Jacqueline."

"Nani?! I thought you're going to name her Hope or something, not Jacqueline!" Silas exclaimed.

"It's okay. Jackie is the one who gave me hope."

"She's still asleep...Oh well! Welcome to the world and Fairy Tail, Jack!"

* * *

**_*Present*_**

Petra swung the doors open. "We're home!"

"The job sure is tiring," Jacqueline panted. "But it was awesome!"

Mirajane smiled. "Glad you had fun! Hm, it's pretty late. You should rest. Don't want to be stressed out for the next day."

Petra snapped her fingers. "You right! Thanks, Mira! Good night!" Jacqueline carried her to her house. She saw a figure walking towards her and her partner.

"Oh, Petra-chan! You've grown so much! Long time no see!"

Petra turned around. "Quincy-san?"

"Thanks for taking care of the egg six years ago." Quincy looked at Jacqueline. "This is the one who hatched from it, right?" He patted Jacqueline's head softly. "Your friend's really nice. Take care of her, too, all right?"

Jacqueline nodded. Quincy walked away.

"Heeeeeeeyyyyy, Petra!" It was Kelso. "Wanna thrash Clair's house with me? Don't worry, she won't blame you."

"In your dreams, Maddox!" Clair kicked his back.

"Oi! I told you two to stop fighting!" Silas scolded them. "You don't want me to torture you guys, do ya?!"

"No way!" Clair and Kelso said.

"Hey, don't do that," Petra said. "Not without me, of course!"

"Hell no!" Clair and Kelso sprinted away.

"Jackie, let's fly."

Jacqueline saluted to her partner. "Ryokai, Petra-san!"


	18. Omake 4: Detective Kelso

**Summary: Silas's bento boxes mysteriously disappeared! Who stole them? It's up to the self-proclaimed Detective Kelso along with Gray and Petra to solve the case! **

* * *

"Who stole my bento boxes?!"

Gray groaned. "Is this _really_ serious, Silas?"

Silas was surrounded by a dark aura. "You think bento boxes aren't _that_ important, huh, you ice punk?!"

"Kowai..."

Kelso slammed his fist on the table. "Dude. Silas, what's going on?"

"Someone stole my bento boxes!" Silas announced.

"Are you really serious about this?!" Gray shrilled at him.

"Can you just shut up?!"

"You two! Break it up!" Kelso ordered. "I'll solve this for you, buddy."

Silas sighed in relief. "Thanks, man."

"All right!" Kelso brought his fist up in the air. "This is the job for-!"

Silas put his palm on his face. "We don't need that shit."

* * *

"Do we really need that Sherlock look, Kelso?" Gray grumbled.

"Yeah, I need to be a detective to this kind of job." Kelso tipped down his hat. "And call me Detective, _sir_."

"Tch. Okay, _Detective_. Wait, why am I helping you?"

An idea came to Kelso's mind. "Didn't Sherlock have a partner? What's his face? Um...oh! Watson!"

"Let me guess...I'm gonna be Watson, huh?"

Kelso nodded.

"Hell no!" Gray smacked him with his ice sword. "I won't be Watson. I'll be just...a spectator." He appeared only wearing his boxers.

"Gray, your clothes."

"Crap!"

* * *

"You better confess right now!" Kelso ordered.

Petra flinched. "You scared me!" Her timid demeanor turned into a violent one. "You little bastard!"

"RUN!" Gray sprinted away, dragging Kelso along with him. "Let's hurry up before the Serpent eats us!"

"GOTCHA, GUYS!" Petra tackled them down. "Ne, Kelso. What's up with the Sherlock look?"

"Someone stole Silas's bento boxes, so I dressed up as a detective," Kelso said. "And Gray tagged along, but doesn't want to be Watson."

"I'm a spectator," Gray added.

"Then I'll join as a spectator," Petra said.

"Oi! What about Watson?!" Kelso whined.

* * *

"Aha! Gotcha!" Kelso laughed.

"MAN!" Elfman sent him flying to the sky.

Petra and Gray sweatdropped. "He's not the one..."

* * *

"Yeah! Now I gotcha!" Kelso announced.

"Ahahahahahahaha! I kicked your ass!" Natsu breathed out fire.

Petra and Gray sweatdropped again. "We're nowhere near our culprit."

* * *

"So _you_ did this!" Kelso said.

"You're pointing to a wall, moron," Gray remarked.

Petra sighed. "Baka."

* * *

"So it was you!" Kelso declared.

Clair was slurping ramen. "Huh?"

"It was you who stole Silas's bento boxes!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, jackass?"

"Wow! I never knew bento boxes taste so good!" Petra overheard someone said. She waved her hands in the air.

"I think I found out who stole Silas's bento boxes! The culprit...is behind this wall!" She slid on the ground. "Jackie?! Erza?!"

Erza dropped her jaw. "Petra?!"

"YOU TWO STOLE AND ATE MY BENTO BOXES!" Silas roared. He swept Erza and Jacqueline inside his tornado.

"Silas put Erza inside his tornado!" Clair gasped. "Oi, Silas! You're going overboard again!"

Kelso sank on his knees. "Petra solved the case instead of me..."

"Maddox! Help us handle Silas!" Clair hollered.

"Hai hai, Frost Face."


	19. XIV: Vengeance

A girl about fifteen was walking on the streets late at night. She sensed a strange presence and dodged an incoming attack. A figure appeared in front of her. It grinned evilly at her.

"Who the hell are you?!" the girl demanded.

The figure cackled. "Ah. You're a hasty one. Well, you asked for it. My name is Axel Cole. I'm from the guild Phantom Lord."

The girl gasped. "Phantom...Lord?!"

"That's right! My buddy just destroyed a guild called Fairy Tail! I wonder how'll those mages react to that tomorrow!"

The girl gulped. "Unbelievable..."

Axel blinked. "You're not laughing..."

"This isn't a laughing matter, baka..." The girl ripped off her cloak. "My name is Blythe Eckart! You messed with the strongest guild in Magnolia and I'm going to report this to them for what your guild did!"

"You have strong guts, girlie...That's one thing I like about you. Another thing is..." Axel transformed his arm into a cannon. "...You're easy to kill." His blast swallowed Blythe in a split second.

* * *

Clair widened her eyes. "The guild..."

Silas clenched his teeth. "It's them..."

After seeing their guild destroyed by Phantom Lord, the rest of the Fairy Tail members temporarily resided in their basement. One of Fairy Tail's healers, Nari, was tending a girl they had never seen before.

"I can't believe Nari-chan's here!" Macao's face turned deep red and steam blew out of his ears.

"Ossan...She's twenty-four; you're thirty-six," Silas said.

"So? I'm into young girls."

"I don't think she's the type you're looking for..."

"What did you say?!"

Petra looked at the injured girl. "Nari-san, who is she?"

"As for as I know, her name is Blythe Eckart," Nari said. "She was attacked last night by a Phantom Lord mage named Axel Cole."

Kelso flinched. "Axel Cole?! The Cyber Hacker?!"

"I'm afraid so, Kelso-kun."

Clair clenched her teeth. "He's crazy strong...He's super dangerous...He's a battle maniac for Earthland's sake!"

"Clair-chan..."

Clair stripped off her jacket, revealing a sports bra. "I'm gonna beat his techno ass for hurting an innocent person!"

All the guys were drooling over her. The rest of the team sweatdropped. Clair just experienced her first unconscious stripping habit.

"Do all ice mages have stripping habits?" Natsu snickered.

Clair's eyes were shadowed beneath her bangs. She tightened her fists. "This is your fault, Gray."

"What do you mean it's my fault?!" Gray asked. "You strip all the time." He suddenly blushed.

"Did you just...blush?"

"No, I didn't!"

"Gray llllllliiiiiiikkkkkeeeeeessssss her!" Happy rolled his tongue.

"I don't! Shut up, Happy!"

"I agree with Happy!" Jacqueline said.

"Not you, too!"

* * *

"Clair! We're meeting in Lucy's house," Natsu said.

"Why Lucy's house?" Clair asked.

"Coz I told everyone to go there..."

Clair sighed. "Wakatta...Well, see ya in a little bit."

* * *

Clair swung the door open. "Sorry, I'm late!"

"Eek! How many people did you invite, Natsu?!" Lucy demanded.

"Sumimasen!" Natsu cried.

Erza was trying to drag Silas, Petra, and Kelso to the bathroom. "Silas, Petra, Kelso, take a shower together, dammit!"

"Hell no!" Silas, Petra, and Kelso said.

Clair froze. "Uh, what the hell is Erza dragging Silas, Petra, and Kelso to the bathroom?"

"Erza-san wanted Silas-san, Petra-san, and Kelso-kun to take a shower together," Jacqueline said.

"And Erza tried to take a shower with Natsu and Gray!" Happy added.

"Which is never going to happen ever again," Gray said.

Clair sat on the floor. "What are we here for?"

* * *

"Master Makarov is said to be on par with Master Jose, also one of the ten wizard saints," Erza explained. "Then there are the Element 4, their S-class level wizards. One of the biggest worries are 'Black Steel' Gajeel. He's the one I believe is responsible for the attack on the guild. The Iron Dragon Slayer."

"Dragon Slayer?" Lucy exclaimed. "There are ones other than Natsu and Clair? So does that mean he like...eats iron and stuff?"

"Yeah," Silas said. "But the other biggest worry is the 'Cyber Hacker', Axel. He's..." He shrugged. "...Powerful."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Powerful? How powerful is he, Silas? What's his magic?"

"I heard it's Technology Magic. Gomen, I don't know the rest of the details. You have to research it for yourself."

"What do we do?! He attacked an innocent girl!"

Silas lowered his head. "I don't know."

* * *

Team Shadow Gear was pinned to the Sola Tree in the Magnolia South Gate Park. Everyone was gathered around there, including some Fairy Tail mages. Makarov approached to the team.

"Master..." Erza whispered.

"I can't believe Phantom did this to them..." Petra was crying.

Clair felt her anger rising. "Why?!"

"I can stand being reduced to a run-down beer hall..." Makarov said. "But no parent can stand idle while the blood of his children is spilled! He crushed his staff.

"Master!" Kelso gasped.

Makarov's magic power rose. "To war!"

* * *

In Oak Town, the war between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord took place. However, the fighting ceased momentarily when Gajeel appeared on the Phantom Lord sign.

"The Iron Dragon Slayer..." Erza said. "Black Steel Gajeel!"

"Hey there, Trash." Gajeel transformed his iron pillar back to his arm. "The Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel-sama, will face you now."

Clair crossed her arms. "Gajeel-sama, my ass."

The Cyber Hacker, Axel Cole, appeared behind her. "You dare disrespect my buddy, Valkyrie Clair."

"Clair!" Kelso blew Axel to the wall. "Whew, that was close."

Axel was laughing. "You're the Flame Stream Kelso. So the Spectral Wind Silas, the Titania Erza, and the Serpent Petra are in the fray, huh? That reminds me, where are Laxus and Mystogan?"

"How should I know? Laxus doesn't care and Mystogan is too reclusive. Why the hell did you hurt an innocent girl?"

"That girl, Blythe? Ha! She's in my way!"

"That's not an answer, you bastard!" Kelso and Axel exchanged booming punches.

"Master ran out of magic power!" Erza announced. "Everyone! Retreat!"

Kelso was speechless. "No way...How...?"

"Ooh, bad luck, huh?" Axel managed to punch him. "I'll deal with you someday, ." He vanished with Gajeel and one of the Elemental 4, Aria. Kelso coughed out blood.

"Kelso!" Clair ran up to him. "Are you okay? Axel just punched you."

"I'm fine. That doesn't hurt at all."

"Hey. Thanks for saving me."

Kelso's cheeks turned red.

"Did you just...?"

"Mind your own business, Frost Face!"

* * *

"Hold on! Hold on. You're a rich heiress?" Clair said.

"And your dad hired Phantom Lord to get you back?" Kelso said.

Petra scoffed. "That's bullshit. If he doesn't have interest in you running away, why does he want you back?"

Silas flinched. "Guys, I think Petra is almost at the insanity stage."

"You said you wanted to stay here, right?" Natsu asked Lucy. "What's the point of returning someplace you don't want to go? You're Lucy of Fairy Tail. This is your home to return to."

Lucy started crying.

"Don't cry, sheesh..." Gray said. "You're stronger than that!"

Elfman was trembling. "Soda! Men are weak to tears!"

Clair sighed. "You're shaking, man."

"Nari-san, how is Blythe?" Petra asked.

Nari glanced at Blythe, who was sleeping on a bed. "Her condition is worsening. Poor girl..."

Petra leaned against the wall. "She looks young. How old is she?"

"Fifteen."

Petra frowned. "That's sad..."

* * *

Cana threw her cards in the air. "It's no use...I can't tell where Mystogan is."

"I see. Too bad," Mirajane said.

"If their aim is Lucy, then they'll be attacking again. We've got a lot of injured people, including the girl Axel Cole attacked, poor girl...This doesn't look good."

"Are sure this is a good idea?" Petra asked. "I mean..."

"Don't worry. I'll figure something out." Mirajane turned to the lacrima. "Master is gravely wounded. And we don't know where Mystogan is. You're the only one we can rely on. Laxus!"

"Huh?" Laxus said.

"Please, come back! Fairy Tail's in a crisis!"

"Serves Jiijii right!" Laxus laughed. "Doesn't have anything to do with me. Handle it yourselves."

Petra hissed between her teeth while Cana said, "Laxus...Why, you..."

"After all...Jiijii started this war. Why should I be the one to bail him out?"

"They're targeting Lucy...One of us!" Mirajane told him.

"Huh? Who's that? Oh, you mean the newbie? Tell her I'll be happy to save her if she becomes my woman.

"I can't believe you!" Cana said.

"Oi, oi! Is that any way to speak to someone you're asking help from? And tell Jiijii to hurry up and retire, so I can take over his position as master. Oh, Pet's here, too? How about this? If Pet agrees to go to bed with me, I'll help." Laxus laughed again. Petra wanted to smash the lacrima so badly, but Mirajane smashed the lacrima instead. She was crying.

"Mira..." Cana said.

"I can't believe him..." Mirajane said. "Is that person actually a member of Fairy Tail?" She fought back her tears. "In that case, I'll fight!" She walked and stopped to where Cana was.

"Wait! You can't do that!" Petra exclaimed.

"What are you saying?" Cana asked.

"Lucy was captured even though I was there!" Mirajane said.

"No. You'll get in everyone's way as you are now. Even if you were once an S class wizard."

Petra huffed. _Damn you, Laxus._

* * *

"Erza!" Petra gasped. She sank on her knees, sobbing on her hands.

"She saved us from Jupiter..." Silas breathed.

"We have to do something about Jupiter," Cana said.

"I'll bust it to pieces!" Natsu said. "15 minutes, right? Let me at it!"

Cana nodded.

"Happy!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy carried his partner to the cannon.

"Elfman, we're going in too!" Gray said.

"All right!" Elfman said.

Petra stood up. "Jackie! Let's go!"

Jackie swooped in and picked her up. "Ryokai, Petra-san!"

Silas followed Gray and Elfman. "In that case, I'm coming too!"

Clair used her Ice Flight while Kelso used his Fire Flight to boost her up. "Yosh, Kelso! We're gonna destroy Jupiter together!"

Kelso nodded. "If I find that cyborg jackass, I'll win for sure!"

* * *

Kelso panted. "We've been running around for like a million times and found nobody! This is outrageous!" She cupped her mouth. "Hello, Phantom people! Wherever the hell you are, this is the Flame Stream speaking. Wanna fight us? Get out now!"

Clair sniffed the air. "They're here."

"The Flame Stream came back, huh? Oh look, you brought the Valkyrie, the Serpent, and the Spectral Wind with you." Axel appeared along with three Phantom mages in front of the group. "I brought some buddies as well. Actually, the work for me. Jagger, Mia, Heidi, show 'em what ya got." He smirked at Kelso. "I deal with you."

Kelso smiled slightly. "Yeah? Good luck with that, cyborg."

"Get ready," Silas said.

"I'll make my first move on you, hot mess." Axel surrounded himself with large electricity.

"Don't call me that, you bastard!" Kelso yelled at him.

Clair raised an eyebrow. "He controls electricity, too?"

"This isn't fair!" Petra complained. "He'll wipe us out entirely with that kind of power!"

Jagger let out a short laugh. "Boss doesn't play fair with our opponents."

"He's the master of deception after all," Mia added.

"We call that lying," Jacqueline corrected.

Heidi grinned. "That's why we always win!"

Clair clenched her teeth. "Oi!"

Axel cackled. "You're going to die here for sure!" He transformed his arms into gears. "Electrode!" He grinded them together and aimed his electricity at the group. Suddenly, the electricity dispersed. Petra widened her eyes.

"Tch, you're..." Axel said.

"Blythe?!" Petra gasped.

* * *

**Sneak peek quotes from the next chapter!**

**"I owe Fairy Tail for saving my life. Now I'll repay them by payback!"**

**...**

**"You saved me..."**

**...**

**"What are you?! Answer me, dammit!"**

**...**

**"You can't have Lucy. You can't have anybody. If that's what you want, you gotta get through me first!"**


End file.
